Kingdom of Fate: Dearly Beloved
by The Aeon Offspring
Summary: The Keyblade. Capable of creating and releasing any "Lock." But previous wielders have discovered that it can do so much more. It can summon Servants. With the darkness approaching, how will Sora use this great artifact? (Mass Crossover, mainly with the Fate series.)
1. Dives into the Heart

**Okay, I know that I've got another Fic and trust me, I don't plan on abandoning it, but this was something that's been in my head for a while and I really wanted to bring it to life. (That, and this will keep me from getting burnt out from writing Remnant of a Forgotten Past.)**

 **This is, to quote T.V. Tropes, a "Massive Multiplayer Crossover" centered around replacing various worlds from Kingdom Hearts with ones from anime and some video games (mainly anime). The main featured crossover will be with the Fate series, which many may know from the visual novels, anime, and video games. I think I've said my part, now to start this thin-**

 **[Not without me you're not!]**

 **New Challenger: Tannin!**

 **Tannin!? What are you doing here?**

 **[Oh please, do you really think that you could get away with writing a Kingdom Hearts related Fic without having help from the biggest KH nerd you know?]**

 **Biggest I know?**

 **[Yeah, I was able to explain to a friend the entire convoluted KH plot line in detail!]**

… **While that is impressive and very sad, that still isn't really a good reason for-**

 **[I've also seen a lot more anime than you have so I can add variety and character faithfulness to this thing. Also, I read T.V. Tropes and have actually taken writing classes.]**

 **Huh... I'm not gonna be able to get rid of you aren't I?**

 **[Not unless I explode or something.]**

… **Alright then. Ladies and gentlemen, joining me on this adventure through various worlds will be Tannin! Let's get this started now, shall we?**

 **[Let us indeed! Hope you all enjoy!]**

 **Kingdom Hearts is a creation of and owned by both Disney and Square Enix.**

 **The Fate series is a creation of Kinoko Nasu and is owned by TYPE-MOON.**

 **This story is written for entertainment purposes. Please support the official release.**

* * *

 _I've been having these weird thoughts lately..._

 _Like, is any of this real or not?_

* * *

 **1\. Dives into the Heart**

Darkness.

That was all a young boy could see. He had been falling for who knows how long in this dark abyss. The strangest part was that he didn't feel like he was falling, he just seemed to know that he was falling head first in this void.

Wait... He could see something in the distance down below. It was a huge circular pillar that appeared to be made out of stained glass. It was pink in color and had circles surrounding the edges. Inside each circle were what appeared to be white, silhouetted mushrooms. In the center, it depicted a woman.

The woman had long blonde hair. On the top of her head there rested a small, gold crown with pink and blue gem stones. She had a fair complexion, her eyes were closed, an almost serene expression on her face. She wore a pink gown with a blue gem on her chest and long, pinkish-white gloves that almost reached her elbows. The gown itself was intricately designed, resembling something from a story book. On her feet were a pair of dark pink heels.

The boy descended onto the pillar slowly. Somehow getting in an upright position, he landed on the circular area. He looked around the column to get his bearings, when he heard the sound of armored feet clattering on the glass-like surface behind him. He turned around to see a girl looking around the area in confusion.

She looked to be around his age, maybe a year older, and was slightly taller than him. She had short, pale blonde hair done up in a braid that circled around a bun. It seemed to all be held together by a blue ribbon. Her bangs covered her forehead while the strands on the side just go past her chin. A single, slim lock of hair stood up right on the top of her head. Her slender face had a pale complexion and, in combination with her hair, made her bluish-green eyes stand out all the more. The girl wore what looked like a ballroom gown. It seemed to be composed of two pieces, a blue top portion with gold lining, and a white under dress. The blue portion had puffed up shoulders and a section of the center that exposed her white dress with a gap in the fabric above her chest. He saw that she was wearing a pair of silver armored, slightly heeled boots. The boy wouldn't normally notice these type of thing, but even he could see that the girl was beautiful. She had a regal sort of beauty that was rarely found in this day and age.

The girl seemed to finally take notice of the other presence there, and turned to face the boy.

* * *

Arturia was confused.

The last thing she remembered was the battle of Camlann, being struck down by one of her most trusted knights, and making the contract with the Earth to seek the Holy Grail.

So why did she feel like she had spent an eternity falling in a void?

She was still trying to make heads or tails of it, and more questions came as she landed of a stain glass pillar. She could feel a set of eyes looking upon her. Turning around, their eyes meet.

It was a boy, looking around the same age as she was physically, although somewhat lanky. He had spiky brown hair (Arturia idly wondered how it was staying up), naturally tanned skin, and blue eyes. He wore a red jumpsuit that had a long zipper running through the middle, ending with puffy shorts. A crown-chain on his left side was attached to a loosely worn blue belt. Over the jumpsuit, the boy wore a black, short sleeved hoodie that was blue on the inside, and black on the outside with white sleeves ending in gray edging. White gloves with blue, black and yellow straps covered his hands. Around his neck, he wore a crown pendant. His shoes are mainly yellow and black with belt-straps holding them closed, the lower portions were gray and end with a small triangular patch of blue.

The boy stepped forward and looked like he was about to speak, only to stop and grasp at his neck in confusion. He tried again, only for no sounds to come out of his mouth.

Arturia tried to speak as well, only for the action to fail her as well. Her eyes widened. With her Rank of Magic Resistance, what could have possibly have caused this?

 _So much to do,_

 _so little time..._

Both of them jumped when the voice suddenly rang through their head. Arturia got into a battle ready stance and tried to summon her sword, only for it not to appear. Eyes wide, she tried again, with the same results. She tried to grasp for anything within her Prana reserves, only to feel them blocked by some unknown force.

Arturia tried to calm herself down. She would not panic, even though she sorely wanted to. Having no access to her blade or her reserves made it a difficult task, though.

 _Take your time._

 _The door is still shut._

 _Now, step forward._

 _Can you do it?_

 _Don't be afraid._

Arturia looked at the boy, and he did the same. He shrugged, and did what the voice had instructed. She was still hesitant. Arturia had no idea what was going on. For all she knew, this was some sort of trap.

The boy looked back, and had an expression that essentially said, "Are you coming or what?" Well, at least he was easy to read. After a few more seconds of pondering, Arturia decided to play along, if just for the boy's sake. She was a knight, and she couldn't in good conscience let him go on his own in this potentially dangerous scenario.

Both of them walked forward into the center, when a podium erupted in front of them near the edge of the pillar.

 _Power sleeps within both of you._

The first podium materialized a shield. It was black with red trimmings on the edges. This wasn't what had caught Arturia's eye though.

What caught her attention was the fact that a red Command Seal was dead center on the shield.

 _If you give it form..._

Another podium appeared, this time manifesting a green staff with a large, blue orb on top. It too contained a Command Seal, only black and floating within the orb.

 _It will give you strength._

A final podium rose, this time making a short sword with a blue handle appear. While small, Arturia could make out a black Command Seal on the golden hilt of the blade.

 _Choose well._

 _'Is this some sort of test?'_ They looked at each other and Arturia decided to be the first to step forward. She reached for the sword, only to be blocked by a spherical shield made out of hexagons.

 _Not yet._

If she could, Arturia would have raised her voice in protest.

 _ **He** must be the one who decides first._

The boy pointed at himself. When he got no response, he decided to do as the voice said. He stepped to the podium and grabbed the sword.

 _The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction._

 _Is this the power you seek?_

The boy took a glance at the staff and the shield before nodding. The Blade disappeared in a flash of light.

 _Your path is set._

 _Now, what will you give up in exchange?_

He looked at Arturia, as if asking what he should do next. She closed her eyes and shook her head, as if to say, "No, this is your choice."

The boy understood and made his way too the center. He took a moment, looking at both weapons, and made his way to the shield. Grabbing the item, he heard the voice again.

 _The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all._

 _You give up this power?_

He looked hesitant. It seemed that the words had struck a cord within him. Making the final decision, he shook his head in denial. He walked to the only other weapon there, the staff, and grabbed it.

 _The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin._

 _You give up this power?_

He closed his eyes in thought. A resolute expression on his face, the boy opened his and nodded in confirmation.

 _You've chosen the power of the warrior._

 _You've given up the power of the mystic._

 _Is this the form you choose?_

The boy nodded once more, and the staff disappeared in a flash of light. He got off the podium, looking rather satisfied, and walked back to the center.

 _Now, it's your turn to choose._

Arturia nodded and went to the blade. She had heard what the voice had said to the boy, and ultimately decided to choose the same path as he did. She knew how to use a sword, it would be pointless to use a weapon that she was unfamiliar with. She gave up on the power of the mystic because of the fact that she only knew one true spell. She would ultimately not be losing much not going on this path.

 _You've chosen the same form as he has._

 _Is this what you want?_

Arturia nodded once again. The podiums sank into the pillar, causing it to break apart into hundreds of shards. Before Arturia knew it, she and the boy were once again sent falling into the abyss.

* * *

They kept falling for a few seconds at a slow pace when they saw another pillar below them.

The surface was dark blue. A large, black circle with gold outlining was illustrated on the stained glass. Inside the circle were what looked like letters in some language that the boy had never seen. Arturia, however, did recognize them. While she was not a Heroic Spirit, she still gained knowledge on legends and languages before her time (although where she got the information even she didn't know). The letters were Egyptian, and from the way they were arranged, it seemed to be some sort of magic spell, only further compounded as she looked at the girl depicted in the center.

Like the previous pillar, this depicted a girl, only she seemed to be younger than the woman in pink. She had long, spiky, blonde hair that pointed downwards and curled slightly upwards. The girl had her eyes closed, and what looked liked painted on blush marks on her checks. Her knees were brought halfway up to her chest, left hand upon her head. Her right hand was up on her side, holding what appeared to be a magic wand of sorts, colored blue with a yellow spiral at the tip. Around her collar was a pink necklace with a yellow gemstone. The outfit she wore was composed of an off-the-shoulders garment that extended to her mid-thighs and ended up as a skirt. It was colored blue, with pink trimmings and a few touches of yellow. A very short pink cape came from the outfit's back. She wore a pointed hat that was also blue, with pink rings and a pink spiral on the right side. Boots reaching halfway up her lower legs adorned her feet and legs, more yellow gems were near her ankles. On her hands, she wore pink and blue gauntlets, the yellow gemstones continuing to appear on her backhands and near her elbows. On the center of her chest was a black gem with a gold pentagram inside.

Moving into an upright position, both Arturia and the boy landed. A second after their feet touched the ground, a bright light flashed into both of their hands.

 _You've both gained the power to fight._

The light died down, and revealed the short swords that they had both chosen earlier. Arturia could feel the access to her reserves being restored.

But... it was a fraction. A very _small_ fraction of Prana she could feel when compared to how it should be. This didn't make any sense, her Master should be-

Her eyes widened in realization. _Who_ was her Master? She could feel Prana being feed to her, but she couldn't tell from where. Her mind was only filled with the barest of information, which was the fact that she was being summoned as a Servant.

 _'Wait...'_ Arturia glanced at the boy, who was taking practice swings with his blade. _'Could this boy be my Master?'_ It was the only conclusion she could come up with, but now came the question of _why_ she was being summoned and just _what_ was going on. Before she could think anymore on the subject, the voice spoke out again.

 _Use this power you have to protect yourself and others._

It was then that Arturia felt it. A dark, primal presence that seemed to be manifesting a few feet in front of the boy. A shadow suddenly appeared on the stain glass surface, twitching in a manner that reminded Arturia of a nervous beast.

 _There will be times were you'll have to fight._

Arturia raised her sword as the shadow rose. It was a small creature, only barely reaching the boy's chest. Its body structure looked _vaguely_ humanoid. It had a round, spherical head with two long, twisted antennae sprouting out of the top. Each of its hands had three clawed fingers, and its feet were large and lacked any discernible digits. Its entire body was completely black with the exception of its large, circular, glowing yellow eyes. She looked at the creatures eyes, and had to hold back a shiver down her spine when she sensed _nothing_ from them.

Only hunger.

 _'What kind of monster is this?!'_

More of the creatures started to appear from the floor, until there were six of them in total.

 _Keep your lights burning strong._

The monsters attacked. One leaped at the boy and Arturia was prepared to intercept, but the he struck the creature with his blade before it even touched him. He ran to the next closest one and swung his blade down, following up with a thrust, and finishing with a spin to build up momentum for the final slash. It was too much for the creature, as it dissipated into a black mist.

One of them decided to leap at Arturia while she was seemingly distracted, but her Instinct was to high to fall for it. With a single swing of her blade, Arturia destroyed the creature, leaving only a black mist behind.

The rest of them were trying to swarm around the boy, with minimal success. The boy showed his prowess with the sword, struck any creature who got too close. One of the monsters had actually sunk back into the ground and began crawling towards Arturia! She tried to stabbed at the beast but her blade merely bounced off the stain glass. It arose and clawed at her, but she easily parried and stabbed the monster, destroying it. Another rose, this time from behind her

 _Behind you!_

Arturia could already sense the creature, but before she could strike, the boy intercepted and knocked the being away. He nodded to her, as if saying, "I've got your back." She nodded back. While with her skill, his assistance was unnecessary, she still appreciated the gesture.

More began appearing and while Arturia and the boy kept fighting, the woman had her mind preoccupied with how he was handling himself.

 _'He has experience. The sureness of how he holds the blade, the swiftness of how he delivers his swings, this isn't the first time he's fought.'_ With one last swing, the final dark creature dissipated.

 _Alright! You've got it._

The voice sounded... Happy? Excited? This was the first time either of them had heard the being display emotion.

They weren't given time to dwell on that, however, as more creatures appeared. Both of them got ready for another fight, only to blink in confusion as the dark monsters sank back down, only this time creating a black void under them. The void spread, swallowing the pillar in a sea of darkness. Arturia grabbed the boy and jumped to try and get away, but it was pointless, the void had completely covered the surface.

They fell, and began to sink. The boy looked terrified, he tried to pull himself from the ever closer darkness, while Arturia merely continued to try to at least keep the boy above her, to no success.

Their eyes met, and they were completely consumed by the darkness.

* * *

Arturia was the first to open her eyes. She got up with a start, only to see that she was on another stained glass pillar. This one was a reddish-orange, three hearts evenly spaced apart from each other. Within each heart was a girl, but unlike the others they were all hidden in a light green silhouette. However, unlike the other pillars, there was a single solitary door resting near the edge of the glass-like surface.

She immediately panicked and began scanning the area for the boy, only to slightly calm down when she quickly spotted him thrashing on the floor. The boy opened his eyes and calmed down as he realized that he was still alive. Arturia extended a hand to help the boy up, which he accepted graciously.

They both walked to the door, the boy looking to confirm that, yes indeed, it lead absolutely nowhere. Despite this, they decided to try opening it, seeing as how they were already experiencing strange things, a door that at first lead to nowhere but when opened lead somewhere, was certainly plausible.

Each grabbing a handle, they both pulled, and their eyes were filled with light.

* * *

Once they could see again, they were surprised to find themselves on some sort of wooden pier near the ocean, but for different reasons.

Further compounding their surprise was that there were three more people around them, all teenagers.

 _Hold on._

 _The door won't open just yet._

 _First, tell me more about yourselves._

Arturia and the boy shared a confused look. Arturia personally thought how this could pertain to anything. The boy looked at one of the teens and walked towards them, Arturia tentatively following.

The boy in front of them had short, disheveled, sandy blonde hair with spiky layers. Tanned skin was paired off with blue eyes, and a small, X-shaped scar on his right cheek. He wore a small, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves, yellow hems, yellow center, and white lining around said center. The shirt was opened, exposing his chest. His navy blue pants had uneven legs, his right pant leg reaching just past his knee, and his left reaching to just about his mid-thigh. The left leg had a diagonal zipper on it, presumably a pocket, and he wore a black fanny pack with the pouch facing forward, showing another diagonal zipper. The boy wore sandals that were mainly black and yellow in color, with some pale green thrown in.

When the boy she had fought alongside with went up to the blonde haired boy, he looked like he wanted to say something, only to be unable to say anything. This caught Arturia's attention. _'Does he know him?'_

The blonde haired teen looked at the boy, and asked, "What are you afraid of?" This surprised both of them, the boy especially for the question.

He seemed to think for a moment, before, to the further surprise of Arturia, replying, "Being indecisive, I guess." The boy slapped his hands onto his mouth. He looked at himself, and tried to speak again, only for the action to elude him once more.

 _'We're only allowed to speak while answering questions?'_ That was a... bizarre limitation on their muteness. She felt the blonde boy's eyes staring at her, and she saw that he was patiently awaiting her answer.

What was she afraid of? That wasn't really something that she wanted to share with someone she didn't know. Still, she should at least be honest, even if she doesn't reveal everything.

"... Failing those who are important to me." Her thoughts went to how she had failed her kingdom, her comrades. She had made the contract with the Earth for a reason, to not let her mistakes lead to _their_ deaths.

"Being indecisive and failing? Are they really that scary?" She glared at the boy, as her ability to speak failed her at the moment.

They walked to the next person, who was another boy, but he was taller than either of them. He had orange hair that had a massive coif, a large, blue headband hid most of it though. He had tanned skin like the other boy's and brown eyes. Each of his ears had a silver stud earring. He wore a pale yellow tank top with black lining, the middle of the upper chest area had an open portion that was kept together by a set of strings in a cross pattern. Each of his wrists had a blue band. He had baggy, orange-yellow pants that closed up halfway down his lower legs. Each pant leg had a large, grey, X-shaped strap with blue tips. His feet had simple green sandals.

His eyes met the brown haired boy's, and he asked, "What do ya want outta life?" in an accent that Arturia wasn't familiar with.

The boy took a few seconds to think, before saying, "To see rare sights."

The taller teen then looked to Arturia. She knew _exactly_ what she wanted. "To make up for my past mistakes." She felt the brown haired boy's eyes look at her in worry, but she ignored him.

"Seein' rare sights and makin' up for ya mistakes, huh?" Arturia turned to walk in a brisk pace to the last person, the boy following.

The last one there was actually a girl, who was slightly shorter than the brown haired boy. She also had brown hair, which was styled into one large curl on the back of her head and two more on either side. Her skin was slightly tanned and she had large, green eyes. She had a smile that somewhat reminded Arturia of a cat. She wore an odd, yellow dress with overall straps and a large pocket on the chest. She had a loose, blue bead bracelet on her left wrist. Brown sandals adorned her feet.

She looked at the boy. "What's most important to you?" She asked him while keeping the smile.

He answered almost immediately. "Friendship." A smile was on his face while saying this.

Her eyes went to Arturia and she actually paused to think. What _is_ the thing that's most important to her. At first, she wanted to say her kingdom, that was what seemed to be right. But thinking it over... that was something that she only wanted to do as a king, not as herself. She... had never really thought about what was important to _her_. As she questioned herself, her mind drifted back to the time she had spent with her knights. Before Lancelot's betrayal, she remembered the Knights of the Round Table being practically family, brothers in arms that would sing songs and go on adventures while always watching each other's backs. Some of her knights had even known her secret and remained loyal to her despite knowing she was a woman.

She even remembered that during some of their outings, she had actually smiled alongside them.

Arturia felt a hand on her shoulder, and found the boy once again looking in concern. She could tell that he had a kind heart, showing worry to someone he didn't even know.

She smiled slightly and shook her head, appreciating his concern. She knew what to answer the girl.

"My comrades, my... _friends_." Arturia knew it was selfish of her to be placing them over her kingdom, but she couldn't help herself. When she got her second chance and made sure Camelot wouldn't fall, she knew that she would be able to save them.

"Is friendship really such a big deal?" She questioned back. The voice returned, repeating their answers.

 _You're afraid of being indecisive and failing._

 _You want to see rare sights and to make up for your mistakes._

 _And you both value friendship._

 _Your adventure begins near the dead of night._

 _Your road will be filled with challenge, but the rising dawn awaits you at your journeys end._

 _The day you will open the door is both far off and very near._

Light filled both of their eyes until all they saw was white

* * *

They were once again on a pillar in a black void, this time it was a neon green color.

As with the other pillars, this depicted a woman. She had wavy, mint green hair done up in an unruly ponytail, held together by a red ribbon. The area above her forehead held some sort of emblem, a half-circle with five points and a red gem in the center. She had fair skin, closed eyes, and long, elf-like ears. She was turned to her left, left arm stretch outward, right arm brought to her center while pointing forward. Her legs were arranged in a way that seemed like she was stepping forward, her right leg was slightly behind her left. She wore a short, strapless, one piece red dress that opened when it reached her thighs but was held together by X-shaped threads. Billowing around in unseen wind was a pink cape, the underside white, along with a high collar. Very ornate bracelets covered her wrists, with red gloves that were folded back to reveal their pink underside. Around her waist was a long, pink bow. Pink socks, pulled up by pink garters that went above her knees were covered by long, red, high heeled boots that stopped near the top of her socks. The most striking feature was the golden-green dragon-like being that curled around the woman, as if protecting her.

Both Arturia and the boy walked forward, only to stop as one of the shadow creatures from earlier rose in front of them. More began to rise, until there was over a dozen littered around the stained glass.

They both summoned their blades and went into action. Arturia had an easy time, taking multiple out with just single swings of her sword. Any that weren't taken care of by her were taken care of by the boy. He displayed his skills with his continued strikes, not letting the monsters sneak up on him when they sunk into the floor.

They made quick work of the shadow creatures. Once they were all destroyed, a light shined near the edge of the pillar. A stained glass platform appeared, then another. They kept appearing, creating a pathway, until they stopped at another pillar off in the distance.

The boy was the first to run on the path, Arturia following close behind. It took about half a minute, but they reached the pillar with no interruption. It was the largest that they've seen and it was gold in coloring.

The girl on this one looked to be the youngest out of all of the ones on the pillars, still only a child. She had brown hair done up in short pigtails. She had a light complexion, her eyes closed as her head was down. Her hands were behind her back. She wore a white turtleneck sweater under a sleeveless dress in pink and two shades of red, white socks and pink dress shoes. The girl was surrounded by white silhouettes of various creatures, some humanoid, others more animal-like.

There was a light that was above them, the boy looked up only to shield his eyes because of how bright it was. Arturia idly thought that the light could be an exit out of this seemingly endless void of darkness.

 _The closer you get to the light,_

The boys shadow began to elongate, rising from the floor.

 _the greater your shadow becomes._

 _'Huh? Just what does it mean by tha-'_ Arturia felt the dark presence again, only this time it was much stronger than the previous creatures, dwarfing them by a significant margin. _'Behind us!'_ As quickly as she could, Arturia spun around, catching the boys attention and making him turn as well.

The figure took on the image of the boy, only, like the dark creatures, it was completely black and had the glowing, yellow eyes. It grew in size, writhing as its features morphed, becoming a gargantuan, hulking menace.

 _But don't be afraid._

It finished transforming into its massive form. It was muscular and humanoid in shape. The legs were short and its feet were very thin and curled upward. Its arms were quite long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. There was a large, heart-shaped hole in its abdominal area, which penetrates straight through from its front to the back. The head was covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles, with only its beady eyes visible, faintly glowing an ominous gold.

Both Arturia and the boy were barely as tall as the monster's hands.

The boy was stepping back in fright, while Arturia herself was doing the same, only struggling not to panic herself. If she had Excalibur, then this creature wouldn't even pose a threat. But she didn't have the Sword of Promised Victory, nor did she have the Prana to even use its full power. She had to fight with the blade she and the boy chose.

 _And don't forget..._

She heard the boy try to run, only to stop as he reach the edge of the pillar they stood on. He looked at he creature and then to Arturia. He steeled himself as he summoned his sword to fight the beast, Arturia doing the same.

The creature lurched forward, dark energy gathering in its right fist. It raised the appendage upward, and quickly slammed it down to where the boy was. He dodged as it made contact with the pillar, creating a large, circular, dark pool. It made contact with Arturia but to her surprise, she didn't sink into it like last time. Her worries came back however, as more of the shadow-like monsters from earlier rose from the darkness.

She slashed at the closest creatures to her as she saw the boy do the same, while also striking the hand of the gargantuan dark being. Arturia jumped on its massive arm and ran to the creature's face, striking it as many times as she could in her weakened state. She felt the blade cut through the flesh but no visible marks were made. The only indication that she was doing damage was that black mist leaked into the air after every strike, the same that appeared after she killed the other dark creatures.

The monster stood up and made an attempt to grab the girl. It failed as she jumped back down, the void no longer there. It knelled down, crossing its arms as a dark force gathered in the empty space in its abdomen. It pulled back its arms, and released the energy. Dark projectiles fired from its abdomen, homing in on the two. The boy dodged by jumping onto the creatures outstretched arm. He decided to use the same tactic as Arturia and go to strike the head. She saw and did the same, all the while both of them tried to dodge the energy blasts.

The dark being stood back up and roared, the force of the sound itself knocking both Arturia and the boy off.

As they made impact with the floor, both of their swords disappeared in a flash of light. The creature turned to the boy and slammed its fists down near him, the appendages sinking into the stain glass surface as dark pools emerged and began to spread, its hungry gaze staring at him.

 _ **-But don't be afraid.**_

 _'No!'_ Arturia tried to run to the boy, but the dark pools had spread quickly, swallowing up her feet. She watched helplessly as she and the boy began to be consumed by the darkness.

 _ **You both hold the mightiest weapons of them all.**_

Arturia tried to desperately reach for the boy, who was thrashing about trying to escape. _'If I can at least save him!'_ The boy saw her efforts, and tried to do the same, unknowingly thinking similar thoughts as her.

 _ **So don't forget:**_

Their eyes met, and all Arturia saw was a scared boy who was about to die. But the boy didn't see the same. He just saw a girl tearing herself apart for failing someone else.

Those were the last things they saw before they were swallowed by the darkness.

* * *

 _You are the ones who will open the door._

* * *

 **Final Note:**

 **So, what did you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Make sure to leave any constructive criticisms and/or questions you have in the in the review section.**

 **[What? That's it!?]**

 **Don't worry, Tannin. This was just the "Prolouge" Chapter. Normal chapters will be much longer, as they will have me trying to cover the entire world in one go.**

 **[That's stupid.]**

 **Yeah, but I won't cut anything down. And if it gets too long, I can just cut the chapter in half and make a "Part 2".**

 **[Better.]**

 **But yeah, that was the first chapter of "Kingdom of Fate" guys!**

 **[In terms of the bosses that we keep, expect them to be more grand than their original counterparts.]**

 **That's it from us, I'm The Aeon Offspring.**

 **[And I'm Tannin!]**

 **And we'll see you next chapter!**

 **Signing Off.**


	2. Awakening

**Hey everyone, welcome back to the latest chapter of Kingdom of Fate!**

 **I got this chapter wrapped up pretty quickly compared to Remnants of a Forgotten Past.**

 **[It's because of me! But no, seriously, it's because of the fact that we won't need to write any "original" material until around chapter four. Actually, didn't you say that chapter three's well written up by now?]**

 **Yup! Expect that one soon everyone!**

 **Music recommendations:**

 **[JUST LOOK UP THE KH SOUNDTRACK YOU FREAKIN' NERDS!]**

 **Okay then, let's just begin.**

 **Kingdom Hearts is a creation of and owned by both Disney and Square Enix.**

 **The Fate series is a creation of Kinoko Nasu and is owned by TYPE-MOON.**

 **This story is written for entertainment purposes. Please support the official release.**

* * *

The bright daytime sun is what greeted the boy when he first woke up. Slowly getting up, his eyes settled on the blue and sandy colors of the beach, seagulls bellowing from a distance.

He yawned loudly, lying back down to take another nap. However, a smiling face greeting him from above prevented that.

"Whoa!" He practically jumped while getting up again. Turning around, he set his eyes on the now giggling girl.

She was maybe a few inches shorter, but was the same age as him. Her hands were on her knees while she stared at him. She had short, dark red hair that barely reached her neck. She had a pale complexion, which brought out her violet eyes. Around her neck was a black choker and a necklace with a silver bead. She wore a white top with a black one underneath that slightly showed her navel, the black one showed her collarbone at the hem. Light purple bike shorts were worn under a light purple skirt that was held on by a purplish-blue belt. On her left arm was a yellow wristband as well as a purple armband, a pair of bracelets adorned her right arm. Her feet had white slip on shoes with purple caps.

"Gimme a break, Kairi." The boy said to his childhood friend.

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here." Kairi mockingly chastised the now identified Sora.

"No! Me and a girl were fighting this huge, black thing!" He spread his arms out for emphasize. "Then it swallowed us up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't- Ow!" Sora's rambling was stopped when Kairi bopped him on the head.

"Are you still dreaming?" She asked him while he rubbed the top of his head.

"It wasn't a dream!" The boy paused. "Or was it? I don't know..." He stared out into the ocean. "What was that place, and who was that girl? So bizarre..."

"Yeah, sure." Kairi obviously wasn't believing his story.

She walked closer to the water. "Say, Kairi," Sora began, "what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up."

Her back was turned, eyes facing the blue horizon. "I've told you before, I don't remember."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"You ever want to go back?"

"Hmm, well, I'm happy here." Her tone matched her words.

"Really..."

"But, you know..." Kairi's mind started to picture what her hometown could be like. "I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I'd like to see it too." A smile began to form on Sora's face, "Along with any other worlds out there!" his eyes shined with excitement. "I want to see 'em all!"

She turned around, a smile on her face as well. "So what are we waiting for?"

"Hey," A new voice called from behind Sora. "aren't you guys forgetting about me?"

The owner of the voice came from a boy, who was a year older then Sora. He had short, silver hair that reached a little past his neck as it spiked downward. His fair complexion was paired off with a set of icy blue eyes. He wore a yellow and black tank top shirt with black straps crossing his chest. A pair of black gloves with matching wristbands adorned his arms. His pants were dark blue and worn under a pair of brighter blue pant legs that were held up by suspenders. The area of the pant legs around the ankles were closed tight by a pair black belts. Blue and white shoes with black straps covered his feet. Compared to Sora, this boy had a more toned build, shown by the fact that he was easily holding a large log with just his right arm.

"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft."

He tossed the log to Sora, who fumbled with the catch, as he walked towards Kairi. "And you're just as lazy as he is!" He chided the girl in a light tone.

She giggled, "So you noticed." She spread her arms out. "Okay, we'll finish it together. I'll race you!" She said as the silver haired boy sat down next to Sora.

"Huh? But Riku just got here." Sora brought up the point.

"What? Are you kidding?" The boy, Riku, replied at the same time with a raised brow.

"Ready? Go!" Kairi shouted.

The boys quickly looked at each other before jumping off from their seats.

They both ran to the usual finish line, Riku slightly ahead with Sora a close second, Kairi lagging a bit behind. All of them had smiles on their faces.

The picturesque blue sky, puffy clouds, and the vast expanse of the ocean were the usual and welcome sights on the Destiny Islands.

* * *

 **Kingdom of Fate: Dearly Beloved**

* * *

 **2\. Awakening**

After the race (which Sora _almost_ won), they had all spread out to go and get supplies for the raft.

Sora walked up to Kairi at the rightmost part of the island, where a wooden door to the other side was.

"So, can you gather the rest of the supplies?" Kairi asked, already done with her share of the work.

"No problem."

"You do remember what to get right?"

"Y-yeah! Uh..." He scratched the back of his head, his expression sheepish. "What were they again?"

"Geez, Sora." The redhead sighed. She should've known. "Okay, we can't build a raft without materials, right?" The boy nodded. "Here's what we need: two logs, one cloth, and one rope. Bring everything back here. No more slacking, okay?"

"Okay, got it!" Nodding, Sora went off to retrieve the items.

The first was easy, the log Riku tossed at him should still be there... Yes! He was right. Running under the bridge, Sora grabbed the log. He began to walk to the leftmost portion of the island, the treehouse area, when the boy spotted a familiar coif of orange hair.

"Hey, Wakka! What's up?" The boy was leaning on a raised wall, hands behind his head. He turned when Sora called and a smile formed on his lips.

"Hey, what's happening, man?"

"Nothing much, just getting supplies for the raft." He reached the taller teen as he said this.

"Oh? You, Riku and Kairi've been working on dat for a while."

"Yeah! We're almost finished too!" Sora glanced down to the left of Wakka and spotted a white ball with a blue spiral pattern. "Oh, you brought your Blitzball today?"

"Ya. Me, Tidus, and Selphie were hopin' to challenge Riku to a three-on-one match." He said while picking up the ball.

"Whoa, three-on-one? Think that'll be enough?" Sora meant what he said. He'd seen them all fight Riku by themselves and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"We're hopin' so." Wakka looked like he was thinking for a second before grinning. "Hey, you up for a round? I could use the practice."

Sora grinned back. "You know it! Let me just grab my sword." He ran to the wood shack to his right to grab his weapon and to drop off the log.

* * *

He came back with his wooden sword. The thing had several nicks and scratches from the numerous matches he's had against the other teens, mostly Riku though.

Sora got into his battle ready stance, legs spread a bit apart, knees slightly bent, and sword being held with both hands. The wooden blade was pointing away from him towards his right side.

Wakka got into his stance as well, left leg bent forward with the right bent back. His left arm was almost straight in front of him while his right was holding the Blitzball in a hook-like hold.

"Show me your stuff!" With those words, the battle began.

Wakka began by winding himself up to toss his Blitzball. It launched straight at Sora, who countered by hitting the ball back at him. Wakka flinched and was hit right on his head, dazing him. Sora took the opening and hit him three times, a downward slash, followed by a thrust, and finishing with a single spin to power up his swing.

The end of the combo set Wakka forward a few feet. His head was no longer spinning as he backed up and threw the ball at Sora again. He swung it back but Wakka was prepared and caught the projectile, preventing an opening. "Nice try!"

Sora moved to hit him again, but Wakka blocked with the ball, causing the sword to bounce off. Taking his chance, he spun and hit the young "swordsman" with the hand that had the Blitzball, making Sora stagger back.

Wakka leapt back and jumped high into the air, and, Sora thought it was a trick of the light, the Blitzball began to glow blue. "Take this!" He threw the ball with an over head swing. Sora managed to hit the Blitzball with a well timed strike and, with a bit more effort than usual, launched it back at Wakka. He was a bit closer to Wakka than before, so he didn't have time to catch the ball as it hit him out of the air.

He landed on his back, causing sand to be thrown up into the air. "Man, that really hurt."

"You okay?" Sora asked as he walked over to help his friend up.

"Ya, just need to remember to practice a bit more before going to fight Riku." He shook the sand out of his hair and began to smile. "Good match!"

"Thanks!" With that done, Sora went back to the shack to grab the log.

* * *

Walking up the stairs on the dock, Sora noticed a girl in a yellow dress sitting on the edge.

"Aah, the breeze feels great today!" She said while stretching her arms.

"Hey, Selphie!" The girl blinked and turned around. She smiled as she saw her friend walk to her.

"Sora! It's good to see you! I haven't seen you much today." Selphie looked at the log and she lost her smile. "Oh, your working on that raft, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." He scratched his cheek and averted his eyes a bit.

The brunette pouted. "When that raft's finished, you, Riku, and Kairi'll leave. We'll never see you again."

"Hey, it's not like that!" Sora replied. "We may be leaving, but this is my home. I'd make sure to come back." He finished with a smile.

"Promise?"

"Promise." Sora nodded. She still seemed a bit sad, but he knew what would cheer her up. "Hey, how about a duel? You and me!"

"A duel?" She began to grin. "Alright, but I've been practicing!"

Sora set the log down and jumped to the sandy area, he was already carrying his sword, as Selphie went to her boat and got her jump rope.

Walking to the beach, she got into her battle stance. Hands on both ends of the jump rope with her legs slightly bent.

"Okay, don't hold back!"

She leaped at Sora, swinging the jump rope like a whip. He dodged at the nick of time, causing her to stagger forward. Sora took the opening and landed his three hit combo on her.

Selphie jumped back as Sora ran to her, she dodged a slash and lashed out her rope, hitting him right in the chest. She swung again, only this time Sora actually managed to hit the end back at her, causing it to hit the top of her head, dazing her. He landed three hits before she regained her wits and jumped back again.

Both ends in her hands, Selphie swung, letting go on the left end and raising her right hand above her. The rope spun around her as she ran forward, Sora leaping back to get some distance. Timing his swing just right, he hit the end of the rope again, causing it to hit Selphie. She spun around due to it hitting her square in the forehead, but the action ended up causing the jump rope to hit her again on the top of her head.

The combined factors of dizziness and the two blows to the head proved to much for Selphie, as she feel flat on her back, defeated.

"Oh, I can't believe I lost!" She waved her arms around, a bit frustrated that her extra training didn't help.

"Hey, you did pretty good. Those attacks with the jump rope actually hurt." Sora said this as he rubbed his chest.

"Yeah," she sat up, "but I can't beat Riku at this rate."

"Just keep practicing. I know you'll get better." He offered her a hand

She took it, getting back up. "Thanks, Sora."

* * *

Sora walked on the wooden dock to the other area of the island. Getting to the wooden walkway on the big tree, he climbed up a ladder to the treehouse. Once inside, Sora spotted a large cloth hanging from the wall. It was just the size that he needed!

After taking the cloth, Sora wondered where he could find the rope. _'I think there was some on the pier?'_ Getting down from the treehouse, Sora walked forward to another ladder and climbed up. Following the walkway, he made it to the pier, and saw a sandy haired boy swinging a red pole like a sword. A few feet away from him he found the rope he needed!

"Hey, Tidus!" Sora greeted the last of his friends that went to the island.

The boy merely glanced back as he kept swinging the pole. "Hey, Sora, you feel lucky today? How 'bout a little competition?"

He thought back to the fights against Wakka and Selphie. He was on a streak today, might as well keep it going, right?

"Okay, but I won't hold back!" Grabbing the rope, he made his way to the beach, Tidus following with a grin on his face.

"Wouldn't have it any other way!"

* * *

Both of them got into their combat stances, Tidus' similar to Sora's, the difference being that he focused on a one handed sword style.

"You're going down!" With a wide grin, Tidus ran to the other "swordsman." Getting close enough, he flipped forward and struck down, Sora barely able do deflect the strong blow. Tidus flipped back and repeated the action, but Sora dodged and used the opening to land his three hits in.

He tried to go for another set of strikes, but Tidus stopped them by back flipping while swinging the pole to make Sora stagger back. Flipping forward, he struck the brown haired teen _hard_ , sending him back a foot or two.

"Come on and fight!" He leaped forward with a downward strike, but Sora struck back, sending Tidus' pole backward. The "swordsman" capitalized and went in for his three hits. Tidus tried to hit him again, but Sora kept dodging.

It was when he slipped up his next attack, a leaping swing, that Sora landed the final blow. Tidus staggered back and sat down on the sand, tired from the fight.

"Aw man, I'm really off today..."

"Hey, you've gotten better. Keep that up and you, Wakka, and Selphie'll be able to beat Riku for sure."

"So you heard about that, huh?" He laid on his back. "He's super strong, a three-on-one fight's the only way it's fair anymore."

"I hear that."

* * *

 _'Now, where would I find that last log?'_ Sora wondered as he climbed up the stairs of the shack. Opening the door to the upstairs portion, he saw the smaller island that was connected to the larger one by the wooden bridge. Sora could see Riku there, sitting on the Paopu Fruit tree and gazing off into the distance.

 _'He's been doing that a lot lately. Probably can't wait to set sail. Hey, he'd probably know where to find another log!'_

Running across the bridge, he was about to ask Riku where he could find a log, when he spotted one near the edge of the island! How lucky!

"Hey, Sora. You finish up getting everything we need for the raft?" Riku spoke when he noticed Sora out of the corner of his eye.

"Yup." He said as he picked up the log. "I just finished up now!"

"Good." He nodded with a smile. "Make sure to give it all to Kairi." He paused, and gained a smirk. "Hey, Sora, how about a quick round?"

"You sure? I just beat Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie not too long ago." He replied, gaining a smirk of his own.

"Ooh. Alright then, Mister Bigshot, let's see how good you've gotten." He grabbed his wooden sword, a bit longer then Sora's, and jumped off the tree, landing a few feet away from him.

"This one decides the champion!" They got into their stances, Riku just lazily holding his sword in his right hand. "Ready or not!"

Riku jumped high into the air, landing behind Sora. He dodged right when the silver haired boy swung, leaving him open. Sora stuck with three hits, making Riku stagger back. He went for another swing but Riku countered with a swing of his own. Jumping into the air again, he landed a couple of feet away from Sora. They swung at the same time and their blades met, again and again. They clashed swords for a few seconds, the usual thing that occurred in their duels.

Sora went for a thrust, but Riku jumped onto the Paopu tree. "Hmph, you still don't got it." He taunted, getting a rise out of the brown haired boy. He went to strike, but Riku had already jumped down behind him! With a swing powered up by a spin, similar to Sora's combo finisher, he landed a big hit on him. He still had it in him to strike in retaliation, knocking Riku down. He went for his chance, but Riku got back up with a spring double kick that hit Sora right in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

Riku leaped back as Sora caught his breath. "Don't tell be you're giving up already?"

"As if!" Running up to him, Sora tried to hit him with his sword, but Riku kept blocking. Riku deflected a swing and did his own, but Sora was just quick enough. With Riku only landing a glancing blow, Sora followed up with his three hit combo, knocking Riku down.

 _'Now's my chance!'_ Jumping up, Sora readied a two handed downward strike that would decide the winner.

But Riku saw an opening and took it. Putting both his hands on the ground, he launched with a powered up spring double kick, hitting Sora right on the chest.

"Oof!" He had no time to dodge while in the air, and that, combined with the force of Riku's blow, sent Sora right off the island.

* _Splash!_ *

Riku went to the edge and saw Sora come up for air. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but man! I was so close this time!" He slammed his hand down in halfhearted frustration. "Now there's another win that goes to you!"

"Weren't you keeping count?"

"Eh, I lost track a couple of months back." He replied while climbing the metal ladder that was attached to the small island.

Riku chuckled. "Well come on. I got a towel back in the shack that I'm sure you want."

After drying off, Sora gave all the items to Kairi and the three decided to call it in for today.

* * *

The sun was setting over the Destiny Islands as Sora, Riku, and Kairi all gathered up on the small island. Sora and Kairi sat upon the Paopu tree while Riku was leaning on the base. All of them were staring at the sunset.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked, glancing at Riku.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here."

"But, how far could a raft take us?"

"Who knows?" The silver haired boy shrugged. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"So, suppose you get to another world." Kairi began, giggling a bit, "What would you do there?"

"Hmm..." Riku paused for a second, thinking. "Well, I... haven't really thought about it." He stared back into the horizon. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater." The boy crossed his arms. "So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" He looked back at his two best friends.

"I don't know." Sora replied, moving a bit so that he could lay on the tree.

"Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out." He walked closer to the islands edge. "Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff." Sora stared at the vast ocean while Kairi looked at Riku. "So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi asked after the silver haired boy had finished.

"Thanks to you." He turned to her with a smile. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this." Sora looked on and rolled his eyes a bit. "Kairi, thanks."

She giggled, and hoped the sunset could hide her slight blush. "You're welcome."

* * *

They were walking on the bridge, Kairi ahead of them, deciding to head to the mainland and back home.

"Sora."

The called boy turned around and caught a large, yellow, star shaped fruit, leaves hung on the bottom points.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" Riku continued.

"A Paopu Fruit?" Sora looked at it in confusion.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined." The silver haired boy explained while continuing to walk. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

He raised an arm and chuckled. "C'mon, I know you want to try it with her."

"What are you talking-" Sora blushed and heard Riku laugh, making him blush harder. Looking at the fruit, he tossed it in to the ocean and ran after Riku.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in another World..._

A large castle stood in the kingdom of Camelot, well taken care of and bustling with its residents, waking up to start the new day.

Walking through one of the hallways was a girl, no older than fifteen. She had long, wavy black hair that almost reached the small of her back. She had a far complexion that was paired off with greenish-blue eyes. She wore a black, long sleeved shirt. The sleeves themselves were very large and roomy, having a big, red, spiky crown design at the edges. A short, red collared cloak that covered her upper arms was worn over the shirt, a string tied it together on the front to keep it from falling. The cloak actually had a detachable hood that the girl decided not to wear today. A brown belt hung around her waist with a gold buckle. The shirt extended to a skirt that went a little past her knees and had two, long, red triangles spaced apart from each other in the bottom edge. Black stockings and brown heeled boots adorned her legs and feet. She yawned as she greeted some passing by maids. While she had gotten better at waking up early, she, and many people that knew her, would not consider herself a morning person.

She made her way to a _very_ large door in the center of the hall. She knocked high with her knuckles three times, then knocked low with the side of her fist twice. This caused a smaller, human sized door to open up. The King had thought it would be funny to design the door like this, loving to see the reactions of those who see the real way to open it.

Walking inside the enormous audience chamber, she began to speak. "Good morning, Your Majesty, I hope you had a pleasant- Huh?" She looked at the throne that was far into the room, and it was empty. _'That's odd, The King usually wakes up earlier than most of us.'_ She kept walking, and saw a large lion come from behind the throne with a letter in his mouth.

"Somba? What's that in your mouth?" She walked to The King's pet lion and it gave her the letter. _'This is The King's seal!'_ Opening it up quickly, she began to read the contents of the paper.

"…-!" Her eyes widened and she did her best not to panic and run out of the room screaming, though the occasional passerby did give her an odd look as she briskly walked past them.

* * *

The garden of the castle was what many would say to be quite beautiful. Flowers of dozens of varieties littered the area, several large bushes were trimmed in a way to make them resemble triumphant knights after battle. However, one in the center was a bush cut in a way to make it look like a miniature version of a castle.

Near the bush castle was a staff. The top portion was a large ring, the top and bottom parts having a gold edging. The sides of the ring had a pair of large wings, three for each side. The wings were layered, the first and third were identical while the second, middle ones were smaller and stick out a bit. Inside the circle was a gold star. Near the top of the ring was a pair of small rubies, that, with the way they were arranged, resembled eyes. A flat, gold cylinder separated the ring from a clear hourglass looking object, only without the center portion. Another flat, gold cylinder connected everything to the actual ruby colored staff, the grip portion colored a vivid crimson, and was almost as long as the average persons arm. The bottom of the pommel had a small gold cross.

The odd part about this staff, other than that it was just laying in the castle's garden, was the fact that it was snoring.

"Where is she, where is she where-AHA!" The girl from earlier had quickly walked into the garden in search of something when she spotted the staff.

Practically running up to it, she grabbed the staff and started shaking it. "Ruby, wake up! This is not the time for a nap!" She staff actually started to sound like a person that was being violently shaken about, waving around as if made of rubber.

"R-Rin! C-calm d-down! And s-stop sha-king me~!" The now named Rin took a few deep breaths as the apparently sentient staff Ruby tried to stop seeing stars.

"Ruby! This is bad this is very bad!" She immediately stopped herself as she glanced around the garden, before continuing in a hushed tone. "We can't tell anyone about what's happened."

"Okay, but what _has_ happened? And can't we tell Queen Guinevere-!" Ruby suddenly looked very nervous as she looked behind Rin.

"Not even the queen!" She shook her head in finality.

"S-Sakura?" Ruby squeaked as she tried to make a throat cutting motion with her wings. As you can guess, Ruby played a terrible game of charades.

"No! What part of "can't tell anyone" don't you get! And want the heck are you doing-"

"Rin?"

She practically froze when she heard that voice. Slowly turning, she saw two people standing behind her.

One of them was a woman with long, radiant orange hair styled into drills, which complimented her stunning green eyes. She had fair skin and wore a concerned expression. A headband type crown was wrapped around her head. She wore an elaborate dress fit for a queen. It was mostly red with white on the sleeves and where the dress split down the middle. It had puffed up shoulders and gold colored lining.

The other person there was a girl a bit younger than Rin, and you could tell that they were related by the fact that they share eye and hair color. Her hair was as long as Rin's but lack the waviness. The left side had a pink ribbon tied to a lock of hair. She wore a much simpler outfit, consisting of a white, long sleeved shirt and a red skirt that ended a bit past her knees. Her expression, like the woman's, was concerned but also had a bit of annoyance as her hands her on her hips.

They were Queen Guinevere and Rin's younger sister, Sakura, respectively.

Rin nervously chuckled as she prepared for the conversation to come.

* * *

Arturia awoke in a black void, only this time she wasn't falling, just floating in the dark abyss.

She tried to move, only for the actions to fail her as she simply lacked the energy.

The monster hadn't killed her like she thought it did. Arturia looked around as much as she could, only to find no sight of the boy she fought alongside with.

 _'The creature seemed to only be interested in him. It's possible it just left me here and-_ ' She didn't finish that train of thought. While she had seen many thing in her time as king, the memories of seeing children suffer always hit a particular portion of her.

She sincerely hoped that the boy was at least okay.

* * *

 _-Destiny Islands_

Sora jumped off his boat and landed on the dock, the sun shining bright as it usually did this time of day.

He saw Tidus, Wakka and Selphie hanging out near the shack.

"Hey guys! What's up?"

"Oh, hey, Sora!" Selphie greeted him with a smile

"Nothing much, just got our butts handed to us by Riku." Tidus said while sitting down, his back leaning on the shack.

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Ya, he's really something else, that's for sure." Wakka spoke while spinning his Blitzball on his finger.

"One thing's for sure, at least Kairi can count on him."

"Ooh! You think he'll ask her to share a Paopu Fruit?" Selphie practically had stars in her eyes while saying this. She signed dramatically. "I wish someone would share one with me."

Wakka and Tidus couldn't help but shake their heads at Selphie.

"Hey, Sora." Wakka began, "You've gotten stronger, ya? How 'bout you go three-on-one wit us?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea! We can see where we measure up!" Tidus was giddy with anticipation.

"Glad to see I'm your measuring stick." Sora deadpanned. "Why not? Let's do this!"

"All right!" All three of them cheered as they all spread out and got into they stances, Sora pulling out his sword.

The battle began, and was hectic. Sora dodged Wakka's thrown Blitzball as he went for Selphie. The girl lashed her rope but he dodged, landing three hits on her. He would have landed more, but Tidus caught him off guard and he was forced to parry his strike. Sora gain a moment's reprieve, when he saw Wakka in the corner of his eye preparing to throw his ball. He ducked down just in time as the Blitzball hit Tidus square in the face.

"Oops! Sorry, brudda!" Without his weapon, Sora went to Wakka and landed a few hits that knocked him back. Selphie's jump rope hit Sora in the back and he fell forward into a roll. She spun the rope around her as she did yesterday and Sora countered the same way as well, making the rope hit her on the top of the head.

Tidus came back in action with a front flip swing of his pole. Sora deflected it and dodge another lash from Selphie. He saw Wakka jump high into the air and launch the shining blue Blitzball. Sora jumped up as well, and hit the ball, towards Selphie. She had gotten over her dizziness when the ball hit her in the stomach, knocking her down, out of the match.

Tidus and Wakka were left. The orange haired boy grab his ball and threw it at Tidus, who in turn hit it towards Sora. Not expecting this, Sora got hit square on the chest and had the wind knock out of him. The sandy haired boy ran to him and swung the pole, landing another hit. Sora leaped back for some breathing room, but was interrupted by Wakka and a thrown Blitzball. Tidus leaped for a downward strike, Sora barely managing a dodge.

"Oi, Tidus! Get ready!" Wakka shouted as he jumped high up into the air and launched the shining blue Blitzball at him. Tidus added to its power with a swing, making it head straight for Sora. But he was ready this time. Timing his swing just right, Sora swung his wooden blade. The ball hit, and he struggled a bit with how much force it had, but Sora stuck the Blitzball, right at Wakka. The boy's eyes widened. He tried to catch the ball, but it went too fast and fell past his grip. The Blitzball hit him right in the chest, launching him right into the sand.

It was just Sora and Tidus now, both were tired from the fight, the next few hits would decide everything.

They both ran forward and clashed weapons. Tidus tried back flip and swing his pole, Sora dodging it. With the opening showing itself, the brown haired swordsman planted the wooden blade downward, spun once, and performed a slide-like charge toward the sandy haired boy.

The attack hit, launching Tidus back a few feet onto his back.

"Aw, man. You and Riku really _are_ something else." He spoke out, really feeling that last hit.

"Phew," Sora wiped his brow, "I don't know how Riku can do this."

"That was _amazing_ , Sora!" Selphie ran up to the boy. "How did you did that last move?"

"Huh?" The last move?... How _did_ he do that? "I... dunno. I just did it."

"Well, whatever it is, it looks like it packs a punch." Wakka spoke, rubbing his chest a bit.

"Trust me, it does." Tidus got up. "Something like that's gotta have a name."

"A name? Hmm..." Sora thought, then it hit him. " **Sliding Dash**." It described the move perfectly, while still sounding a bit cool. Like the move, it just sort of came to him, and felt... right.

"Well, I'm beat. I think I'll rest a bit before seeing Riku and Kairi." Sora stretched his arms out, happy for the relief.

"I'm right there with ya for the resting part." Tidus nodded.

"Hey, I brought some drinks with me! They'd be perfect right now, ya?" Wakka hit his palm with his fist, remembering the cold sodas.

"Yeah, that'd really hit the spot!" Selphie cheered.

* * *

After the drinks and rest, Sora bid farewell to the three and went through the door on the far right on the island, which went to the cove.

He looked to his right and saw Riku staring off at the ocean. Hearing the door open, he turned around and saw his friend.

"Hey, Sora." He saw that the boy was a bit scratched up. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Went off against Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, three-on-one."

"How'd that end up?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Eh, I won, but I really had to work for it. I don't know how you make it look so easy."

"Tell you the truth, I think you had a harder time then I did. They weren't really working as a team when I fought them." Riku shrugged.

"Well, they only did that when I took out Selphie. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have stood a chance if they worked together from the start."

"Well, _I_ may have stood a chance." The silver haired boy smirked.

"Tch, yeah right." They both shared a laugh. Riku rarely bragged, and of he did, it was usually just him joking around.

"So, I thought that our raft needed a name." Riku began, "I was thinking... Highwind. How about you?"

"Me? Hmm, well... How about Excalibur!" It was a sword from one of Sora's favorite stories. Who wouldn't want to name their ship after something that cool?

"I dunno..." His face lit up with inspiration. "Hey, how 'bout..."

"The usual?" Sora grinned as his mind went to the same thing.

"You guys at it again?" Kairi said as she walked across the large bridge that had gaps in it. "All right, I'll be the judge."

"The usual rules apply: Take any route you want. First one to tag the star tree over near the edge of the cove and makes it back here wins."

They got into place and Sora decided to add some additions to the wager.

"If I win, then... I'm captain! And if you win-"

"I get to share the Paopu with Kairi."

"Huh?" Sora blinked in surprise.

"Deal? The winner gets the share a Paopu with Kairi." Riku grinned as he made the wager.

Sora was blushing heavily. "Wha! Wait a minute!"

"Okay, on my count!" Said girl interrupted his thoughts as she began to count down.

"3!"

"2!"

'1!'

"Go!"

They both shot off. They were neck and neck while on the bridge, but Sora had forgotten that some of the planks were loose, and fell into the shallow water below.

It didn't stop him as he kept going. He saw Riku climb up a tall tower, which he knew had the zip line. Not wanting him to gain a lead, Sora booked it to the area which had the coconut trees.

Riku made it off the zip line and ran to the raised ledges that lead to the star tree, Sora close behind. They tagged the tree one after another, and jumped on the coconut trees to save time. Riku managed to judge the timing of one of the jumps wrong and dropped to the ground loosing his lead.

Once they got near the bridge, they were neck and neck again. They were getting closer to the finish line when Sora delved into energy he didn't know he even had.

With one final leap, he _just_ managed to cross the finish line first.

"Yeah! I won! Alright!" He was ecstatic. He beat Riku! That was... Oh, right, he'd lost count a while ago.

"Man, lighten up. It's just a name after all." Riku's stared at Sora with half lidded eyes.

"Wha? But I thought you said-"

"Huh? You actually believed me? That Paopu thing was just a joke." He chuckled a bit. "You should've seen your face."

"Wha!" Sora's face was blushing again. "I-just-Gah!" He turned and walked away with a huff, causing more chuckles to be heard from the silver haired boy.

* * *

Sora walked near the area with the coconut trees where the raft was being kept. He saw Kairi and walked up to her.

"Alright, what do we need today?"

"Today, we'll need to collect some provisions." She brought out a list she made and gave it to Sora. A lot of it was crossed off with only a few left. "We'll need one seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish, and some more drinking water." She lifted up the large jar near her along with a basket to put the stuff in. "Oh, and Sora." She deadpanned. "Make sure its fresh water and _not_ salt water."

"I know that! Geez one time and they'll never let you live it down." He heard Kairi giggle and walked off to collect the items.

He was near the coconut trees so he made sure to get those first. Whacking them a few times (and making sure none fell on his head), he got the two coconuts needed.

Walking to a large wall near the raft, he spotted a divot in the wall hidden by a rock. Moving it, he found an edible mushroom. Walking up the stairs near the zip line tower, he caught site of the same type of mushroom! This'll be easy!

Walking out into the front of the island, Sora saw the seagull egg that had been resting a top a coconut tree. _'Hmm... it's been there a while and it's mother never came back... I'm sure there's no harm in it.'_ Climbing up another tree, Sora took the abandoned egg and put it in the basket.

He stared off into the ocean. He'd always seen a few fish swimming around so the only problem now would be catching them. After several long (and some would say amusing) minutes, he had caught all three fish.

All that was left was the drinking water and the last mushroom. Sora remembered were he had seen more of the type of mushroom that he needed, the Secret Place in between the base of the large tree and the waterfall. Going towards the cave, he filled up the jar with the waterfall. He then headed inside.

Sora walked through the rock tunnel and gazed at the inside of the cave. It was filled to the brim with drawings and doodles that he, Riku, and Kairi had done since they were little. The oddest part about the place was that there was a door there. A single, brown door that had some outlining in gold. The wasn't a handle so there wasn't a way to open it, but Sora had always wondered what was on the other side.

He saw the mushroom that he need and placed it in the basket. As he took it, he looked at a cave drawing that made him nostalgic.

* * *

 _Sora and Kairi were sitting inside the Secret Place, drawing one of the first pictures there._

 _They were both still young children, Sora's hair was less spiky and he wore a_ _white v-neck T-shirt with blue edging, red shorts with a pocket on each of the sides, and brown sandals with orange-yellow velcro strap_ _s._

 _Kairi had comparatively longer hair than she does at present day, reaching down to her neck. She wore a_ _white apron-like shirt with blue flowers and a blue line across the chest, a pink skirt with a white line on it and large, white shoes with pink and purple lines on them._ _She still had her necklace, even back then._

 _T_ _hey were drawing each others heads. Kairi clearly had the artist talent of the two while Sora's lines were all shaky and it only had a passing resemblance to her. She didn't seem to mind though, still saying that he did a good job. He rubbed his nose a_ _nd_ _grinned, proud that she liked it._

* * *

He saw a small rock near the wall, big enough to be used as a drawing tool for the wall. He grabbed it and looked at the drawing again, and decided to add something.

Near the image of himself, Sora chiseled an arm coming from him, giving the drawing of Kairi a Paopu fruit.

He blushed at his finished work, but couldn't help but smile.

A sound from behind him made him almost jump. He turned around.

"Wh-Who's there!" To his surprise, it was someone Sora had never seen before.

The shadows of the cave made it impossible to see his face, but Sora could tell he was wearing some sort of cloak.

"I've come to see the door to this world." The figure spoke in a masculine voice.

"Huh?"

"This world has been connected." He continued.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Sora was still confused. Who was this guy?

"Tied to the darkness... soon to be completely eclipsed."

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this! Huh?" Wait. This doesn't add up. Sora practically knew everyone on the islands. Even if he didn't know this guy's name he should at least recognize the voice. But it was unfamiliar to him. "Wh-Where did you come from?"

Instead of answering the question, the man just went on. "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

Sora's eyes widened in realization. "So, you're from another world!"

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."

He actually got annoyed at this. "Oh yeah? Well you'll see! I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort." The dark figure actually seemed slightly amused by this. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Sora glared at the man, before setting his sights on the door. He had always wondered what was behind it. Could it... lead to another world?

He turned his head to the man, only to realize that he was gone. He looked around the cave, but the guy hadn't left anything behind. It was as if he was never there in the first place.

Sora decided to grab his basket and leave the cave quickly. He doesn't know why, but that guy seemed like bad news. If it wasn't the massive creepy vibe he set off then it was Sora's guts telling him to stay away.

Making his way back to the cove he went to Kairi to give her the stuff.

"I'm done." He saw that she was messing with something with her hands. "What'cha making there?"

"This? I'm making a necklace out of thalassa shells." She smiled as she said this. "In the old days, sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage." She held it up to show that she was almost done. It was like a star in shape, only one point missing. "See this? It's a charm to help us find each other if we ever get separated."

"Sounds important."

"Yup, but I don't think we'll really need it. The three of us will always be together." She had a wide smile on her face

Sora nodded, a large smile of his own plastered on. Riku and Kairi, he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

* * *

Sunset had once again befallen the Destiny Islands. Sora and Kairi had found themselves alone, sitting on the dock.

"You know, Riku has changed." Kairi began.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...Hmm..."

"You okay?"

At first she didn't answer. Then, with a large smile, she turned to him and said, "Sora! Let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!

"Huh?" Sora's face turned a bit red.

She giggled at this. "Just kidding!"

Sora faltered a bit. "What's gotten into you?" He chuckled a little. "You're the one that's changed Kairi."

"...Maybe." The sudden change in her tone caught his attention. "You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here." She turned to Sora again. "Right?"

"Yeah, of course!" He planned to come back too. What sort of friend would he be if he never saw Tidus, Wakka, or Selphie again?

"That's good... Sora, don't ever change."

"Huh?"

She stood up. "I just can't wait. Once we set sail,"Kairi stared out into the oceanic sunset, "it'll be great."

"...Yeah." Tomorrow's the big day. It was now or never.

* * *

 _-Camelot_

 _Rin,_

 _Sorry to rush off without saying goodbye, but there's big trouble stirring about._

 _I only have a theory as to why, but the stars have been blinking out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all and the kingdom, but I have to go check into it._

 _There is someone with a "Key"- the key to our survival. I need you and Ruby to find and stay with him no matter what. Okay?_

 _We have to find that key or we're all doomed. Go to Traverse Town and find a man named Leon. He'll point you in the right direction._

 _P.S._

 _Can you apologize to Guinevere for me?_

 _Thanks, Rin._

* * *

"Your majesty, what could this mean?" Sakura asked the older woman, who's eyes were closed as she finished the letter.

"It means... we will just have to trust the king." Guinevere said in a somber tone.

"Oh, I sure hope his majesty's okay." Ruby said as she floated in the air. The King was one of the few people that she completely respected, and that was saying something.

"Your highness." Rin saluted. "Don't worry. We'll be sure to find the king and this "key.""

Guinevere smiled in a motherly way. "Thank you. Both of you."

"Sakura, I'm sorry, but I will-"

"It's okay. Just make sure to come back safe." Her sister replied, her tone understanding.

"We hope for your safe return. Please help the king." She bowed her head slightly, a show of great trust from someone of her status.

Rin saluted again. As she looked to the people she was leaving behind... and Ruby, who was giving her what she assumed to be her form of a salute as if to say farewell.

A tick mark appeared on Rin's head as she went toward the lazy magic wand. "You're coming, too!" She grabbed her "neck" and dragged her to the launch bay.

* * *

The two were walking down a long spiral staircase which lead to their means of travel. Well, Rin was walking. Ruby just floated down.

"Ruby, you know the rules right?" She asked the wand.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! While in other worlds, we can't let anyone know where we're from. We have to protect the Worlds' order as much as we can."

"Good. Nice to see you taking this seriously."

"It's a mission from the king, of course I'll take it seriously!" Ruby huffed.

They made it to the bottom hallway. "You may want to try wearing a different set of clothes while we travel."

"Hmm," Rin looked at her ensemble and nodded. "Yeah, I stand out a bit to much. Something more casual should do."

"Maybe you could-"

"NO! I am _not_ transforming into Kaleido Ruby!" She glared at the magic wand.

"But, Riiiiiiin~, it's the only way to access our full power!"

"I said no!" Transforming into Kaleido Ruby was fun when she was younger, but it was downright embarrassing now that she was fifteen.

Seriously, she was too old to be a magical girl darn it!

* * *

They walked into the launch bay. Gears were grinding and turning as they operated the various mechanisms of the area.

Or, they're there just because the inventor thought that they looked cool.

The two made their way to a large, reddish-orange ship. The cockpit was in the middle-back while the middle-front contain the engine. The sides had the ship's thrusters and they also had wings for aerodynamics. The bottom of the vessel had the ship's weapons, a pair of cannons.

Rin went to a mic and spoke. "This is Rin Tohsaka to launch crew, any time you're ready."

One of the technicians looked excited as she started pressing buttons, putting in the last touches. She had short magenta colored hair and yellow eyes, and was dressed up in a black and white eastern maid uniform, sandals included. A lot of her hair was pulled back and held by a blue ribbon.

A girl next to her was also busy at the controls. She had the same exact hair color, but with untied hair, her eyes blue. She wore a more traditional maid uniform in the same colors as the other girl, black boots on her feet. Instead of looking excited, this girl had a rather stoic expression.

The ship became angled in a way that allowed Rin to board. Grabbing Ruby, she jumped inside the cockpit.

"Okay, Rin, make sure to not touch the controls. Kohaku and Hisui modified the Gummi Ship so I can drive it too. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time now, do we?" Ruby slightly joked at the end but Rin groaned and tried to bury those memories of her last failed venture into technology.

No one had told her that the button she'd pressed was the self destruct!

Looking out the window, Rin saw the queen and her sister seeing them off. She nodded to them with a smile. The ship aligned itself with the launch way.

The excited voice, Kohaku, shouted, "Blast Off!"

A downward arrow suddenly flashed in front of the ship. The launch pad disappeared and they ship fell into the "actual" launch way, Rin and Ruby screaming all the way.

Sometimes, Rin really hated the king's sense of humor. She swore that he had spent _way_ too much time with his mischievous instructor.

Popping out from "under" their world, the Gummi Ship blasted off to Traverse Town.

* * *

 _-Destiny Islands_

Sora laid a top his bed, hands behind his head, thinking about tomorrow. His room was a bit of a mess, some of his clothes and toys just laying on the floor. The ceiling had several things hanging from it, a crescent moon, a few stars, and a toy ship with a few "action figures" (read: dolls) inside.

Tomorrow's the day they finally leave their home. While it may not be forever, he'll still miss everyone, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie.

He looked at the toy ship hanging from his ceiling. " _I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great._ " Kairi's voice rang in his mind.

 _'Yeah, as long as I have Riku and Kairi with me, everything will be fine.'_

He heard a rumbling noise come from outside. Looking out the window next to his bed, he saw several dark clouds hanging over the island offshore, giving off lightning every few seconds.

"A storm?" He questioned. His eyes almost jumped out of his head. "Oh, no, the raft!"

* * *

"Sora, dinner's ready, come on down. Sora?"

Sora's mother called from the kitchen, but his bedroom was empty. The window being open was the only indication that Sora had left.

* * *

Sora jumped from his boat only to stare in shock at a giant dark sphere that hovered over the island, pulsating energy.

"What's that?" He looked at the dock and his worry deepened. "Riku's boat. And Kairi's!" He heard something shifting to him. Turning his head to the sound he couldn't believe what he saw.

Black creatures with beady yellow eyes. Just like from the dream he had.

They began to crawl towards him. Grabbing his wooden sword from his boat, Sora tried to hit them.

But it was no use. The toy just phased through the monsters as if it didn't exist.

One of them slashed at Sora, hitting him right in the leg. He wasn't bleeding, but it had _really_ hurt. More started to appear, at least a dozen coming just for him.

He wanted to run, to use his boat to get off the island, but then something occurred to him that made him halt. _'Riku! Kairi! There still here!'_ The image of these monsters getting to his best friends and-

Sora steeled himself as he ran past the creatures to search for his friends. _'I need to help them!'_

More kept appearing, there were over thirty of them if Sora had to guess, all trying to claw at him and do something that he didn't want to think about.

He saw someone standing on the small island connected by the bridge. He climbed on top of the shack and jumped to it.

He saw silver hair, and felt like grabbing him into a hug, "Riku!" but his happiness dwindled as he looked to find that he was alone. Getting on the small island, Sora confronted his friend.

"Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!"

"The door... has opened..." Instead of answering, Riku kept his back turned as he spoke those words.

"What?"

"The door has opened, Sora!" He turned to face the boy, a manic smile on his face. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!"

"Kairi's coming with us!" He interrupted his friend. Sora flinched back, Riku was honestly starting to scare him.

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back." He looked at the swirling orb of darkness. "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us!" Riku looked right into Sora's eyes, and Sora felt as though he was looking at his best friend for the first time. "I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

He held out his hand, wanting Sora to take it. "Riku..." A pool of darkness erupted from the silver haired boy's feet. Sora remembered what happened in his dream when he got sucked into one of them, and tried to grab Riku's hand to save him.

But the pool had spread to where it got Sora. Black tendrils started to wrap around them, making it harder to move. Sora kept trying to reach Riku, but it was no use.

Before Sora knew it, all he saw was darkness.

* * *

Time didn't really exist in the dark void. Arturia felt like she had spent an eternity there, while knowing that it was possibly only a couple of minutes, or maybe even a week.

Either way, she was stuck there. Floating endlessly within-

Wait, she felt a connection. A source of Prana was giving her the energy to move. She could see a gradually brighter and brighter light she was going towards.

A contract had been made, she was being properly summoned.

* * *

Sora saw a bright light. It began to surround him until it was all he saw.

He was back on the small island. But he was now holding onto something.

It was, for lack of better words, a giant key. It was a bit longer than his old wooden sword, looking to be past three feet. It looked reminiscent of a skeleton key in design, the teeth actually resembling a crown, two square points on the outer part with two triangle points with circle tips. The pole and teeth parts were silver, the rainguard near the base was blue. The guard was a bright gold (really making to look like big a key) while a handle inside was gray. The hilt had a long, silver chain that had a deep red token of some sort at the end. The main part of the token had a diamond-like shape but was separated in the center. It honestly reminded him of a tattoo, but thinking back, Sora had actually seen this before in his dream. Another shape was in the token, slightly smaller but keeping it held together. It looked like three flower petals, one on top and two on the bottom.

 _Keyblade_

"Wha?-!" Sora was interrupted from his observation when two circles appeared in front of him, glowing blue and purple respectively. They were causing the air around them to go crazy, practically creating a whirlwind. The circle had writing in some language that he couldn't decipher.

Inside the circles, two figures emerged.

The first was the same girl that Sora had seen in his dream. She wore the same dress as before, only with parts of it now covered in sliver armor. Her chest had torso armor with intricate blue markings, the sides of her dress having metal plates that looked like they reached to her knees. The part where the dress split down the middle had a blue portion added, outlined in gold. Her arms were covered in gauntlets, the right having a more cylinder like shape with all her fingers free to move. The left arm's gauntlet was had a more plated look, the hands resembling metal mittens with only her thumb and index finger free. She had her eye's closed, and she looked like she had a sword planted in front of her, even though there was nothing there.

With the next person, well, Sora honestly felt like blushing. She was taller than him by almost three full heads, and had long, light purple hair that reached down to her feet. She had fair skin like the other girl, but her eyes were covered with some kind of mask. It was purple and seemed to be held together by two small, silver plates that were right between where her eyes should be. Her forehead had some sort of read marking that was, once again, in a language he didn't know. She wore a black, strapless dress that exposed her shoulders and ended a bit past her thighs. The top edging of the dress was outlined in purple. Her arms were covered in long gloves that exposed most of her hands except for the back. They ended midway up her bicep and each had three armband-like objects, two on the top and the third near the elbows. A similar object was found on her wrists. Long, heeled boots adorned her legs, having the exact same color and outlining of her dress, and ended near her upper legs. The front of the boots had purple armoring on her ankles. She was _very_ pretty, had the situation not have been so dire and surprising, Sora would averted his eyes.

The wind died down, and the girl in blue opened her eyes, she and the purple haired woman looked at Sora, and spoke, "I ask of you: Are you my Master?-!"

Both of them quickly turned to each other as soon as those words left their mouths. Arturia found herself being confused again. Judging by the power radiating from the woman in black, she was another Servant. But what was she doing here? Did she attack him or-

"M-master? What are you talking about?" The boy spoke, drawing both of their attentions. Arturia's eyes widened, it was the same boy from before, only now he was holding an odd key-shaped object. Quickly looking it over, she saw Command Seals serving as the token on the chain.

"Command Seals..." The woman with the blindfold-like mask spoke again. "I can sense Prana being given to me by him and the key."

"You as well?" Two Servants? That was almost unthinkable. How could this boy and key possibly support two Spirits?

No. Both of them could feel it. Their power was comparatively weaker than what it should have been. At the cost of summoning two Servant's, their power had been cut in half. No, _l_ _ess_ than half, Arturia felt as strong as she did when she and the boy fought those dark creatures.

 _Keyblade_

"Huh?" They heard the voice call out, for Sora, it was the second time. The confused boy looked around to to find the source of the voice, to no avail.

 _'That voice again.'_ Arturia felt the presence of something within her mind. And judging from the expressions of the boy and woman, so did they.

The Servants minds suddenly became filled with knowledge.

Keyblade. A magical weapon that was capable of summoning Heroic Spirits from a different reality entirely to aid their masters.

"He is... _our_ Master..." The woman in black muttered.

Before the boy could question them again, more of the dark creatures began to rise around them. Both Servant's summoned their weapons, the purple hair woman held a pair of long, nail-like daggers with long chains attached to the hilts, large metal rings at the ends. Arturia... looked like she had grabbed onto the air.

 _'These beasts exist here too?!'_ "We'll have to cut the introductions short! I, Servant Saber, offer my support as a knight to you!" Arturia, now identifying herself as Saber, shouted as she charged at the monsters.

"And I, Servant Rider, will lend you my aid as well!" Rider said while throwing a dagger at one of the creatures, destroying it instantly.

Sora dodged one of the dark beings and hit it with the Keyblade, actually knocking it back. "I still don't know what's going on, but I really appreciate the help!"

He hit the swarm of shadow-like beings, having a much easier time than in his dream. Most of them dissipated into black mist after only one or two hits instead of three.

Saber, while not at full strength, still had an easy time against the shadow creatures. Her invisible blade cutting though most of them like butter. Many could barely get close before they were torn to shreds.

Rider was gracefully moving through the swarm as she hit all the beings with her daggers. When it looked like a monster was about to strike her, she dodged it and retaliated with lethal force.

"Saber," The Servant of the Mount spoke while attacking. "I don't know if you can sense it, but there is something above us."

She glanced upward and tried not to gawk at what she was seeing. A titanic, pulsating orb of dark energy, that seemed to be getting bigger every second.

"What in the world..." She blocked a strike directed to her by a creature. She had sensed that _something_ was above them, but hadn't thought that it was this bad.

"They just keep coming!" The boy said as he slashed through another. He began to panic when he remembered why he was staying here. "Kairi!"

"Whom?" Saber asked as she got near the now panicking Master.

"My friend! She's still on the island and I don't know if she's okay!"

"Do you know where she may have went?" Rider asked as she used her dagger liked a whip at a cluster of monsters.

Sora tried to think as he dodged the swipes of the creatures. He figured out a place Kairi could be. "There's a cave between the base of the tree and the waterfall! She has to be there!"

"We'll clear the way, you follow behind!" Saber instructed as she and Rider went to the area, cutting down shadow-like beings left and right.

* * *

"Huh? There wasn't a door here before." Standing at the entrance of the cave was an ornate, white double door. Pulling it, Sora was glad that it was open. "C'mon, get inside!" He shouted at the two. Taking care of the last nearest foe, the Servants went inside and shut the door.

Sora ran through the tunnel and hoped that she was here. Getting to the cave's opening, all three stopped as they saw the girl, her back turned.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted. Rider could sense her, and she felt... off.

She slowly turned around and Saber's eyes widened. She had never seen such dead eyes on a living being before.

"Sora..." They could all tell that something was wrong, there was no emotion in her voice.

The door in the back swung open, releasing a dark wind that sent Kairi flying towards Sora. He tried to grab a hold of her, only for Kairi to phase right through him.

The wind became stronger, almost pushing Sora out of the cave had Saber not caught him. The wind was growing stronger still, to the point where the Servants feet were starting to slide on the floor.

One final dark gust, and they were all sent flying out of the cave.

* * *

The three landed roughly in the sand. Sora got up and looked in horror at what had happened to the islands.

They were on a small piece of sand and debris. Below and around of them was an endless purple void, swirling wind keeping the last remnant of the Destiny Islands afloat.

"My home..." Saber and Rider sensed an enormous dark presence right behind them. Turning around, with Sora following a few seconds after, they stared at the now colossal orb of darkness in the sky, sucking in everything the island had. But their main attention was brought onto the hulking figure before them.

It was the same giant monster from Sora's dream, and it seemed even bigger than last time, probably twice as large.

The Servants summoned their weapons while the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand.

The creature crouched and began gathering energy in its abdomen. Saber leaped onto the arm of the beast and ran to its head. But the creature had charged its attack at a quicker pace than before and fired. The projectiles came straight for her and she deflected them all the best she could at her current strength, some landing glancing blows on her armor.

Sora managed to climb the beast's other arm and started slashing the head. Rider followed suit and climbed onto the creature by using her daggers to get up. The monster roared, knocking them all off. It gathered energy into its fist, and plunged its whole arm directly into the ground. The three took this as an opportunity to strike the head while they could. When it rose up, it was holding some sort of red energy. Saber and Rider could sense its power, and could tell it was bad news. The monster crushed it, releasing small energy orbs into the air.

They fell like rain. All three saw one touch the ground and it caused a miniature explosion. More began to fall and Sora was having trouble dodging them all, getting hit by one and falling to the ground.

"Master!" Saber ran to him and saw that the titan was going to hammer the downed boy with a dark, charged fist. Saber grasped at the Prana she could spare. She couldn't use Excalibur's true power, but she still had _one_ trick up her sleeve.

"Rider! Get behind me!" She nodded and dashed to her Master, standing guard while Saber prepared her attack. The wind began to dance in a frenzy around her invisible blade.

" **Strike** ," The monster reared its fist back and launched it at the three. " **Air** **!** " She swung her blade, unleashing a hurricane force slash that hit the creature's hand dead on, obliterating its entire arm.

The attack had revealed Saber's sword, and it was the most amazing swords that Sora had ever seen. A long, sliver blade that had an unknown language engraved onto it met a gold guard with blue engravings, and was finished with a blue hand and gold pommel. Words failed to capture the true majesty of the sword.

"That sword, you're..." Rider, despite being from a different time period, recognized the power of the blade as its legends have spread throughout time.

"You did it!" Sora cheered, gaining the knight's attention. "Saber, you did-" His face froze as he stared at the titan. Turning back around, Saber too, gawked.

Black tendrils erupted from the stump that was once an arm. They grew longer, and wrapped around each other as it formed into a single shape.

A new arm had formed, as if nothing had happened.

The beast roared as it went to grab the three warriors. Saber and Rider were prepared to retaliate, but were surprised when its grip came short.

It began to float in mid air, being sucked into the now increasing in power orb in the sky.

Sora and Saber grabbed onto what was left of the wooden shack. Rider, too late in grabbing on, threw her daggers at the wood, giving herself a firm grip.

The pull was too strong, Sora couldn't hang on anymore. As his fingers slipped, Saber managed to grab his arm.

"Saber!"

"Just hang on!" She yelled. This was very bad, the wood wouldn't last much longer under her grip before-

* _Snap!_ *

-breaking under her fingers.

They would have been sucked in had Rider not been there and grabbed a hold of Saber's hand.

"Rider!" Sora called out to the purple hair woman.

"I'm sorry, but I fear that this may be our end." She said in a clinical tone, trying to hide her own panic.

Tears were starting to fall out of Sora's eyes and Saber was beating herself up on the inside. Once again, she was powerless in stopping the death of one innocent.

The wood that held the daggers had loosened due to the extra weight and increasing force of the wind. After a few seconds, the daggers finally popped out.

They all screamed as they disappeared into the growing sphere of darkness.

It continued to consume everything until there was nothing left.

The Destiny Islands, where no more.

* * *

 **Final Note:**

 **So, what did you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Make sure to leave any constructive criticisms and/or questions you have in the in the review section.**

 **Now, many of you may be wondering why Darkside is more powerful here than he is in KH1.**

 **[CAUSE IT'S FREAKING AWESOME! We said that we would make the bosses more grandiose and we delivered!]**

 **That, and the fact that Darkside is much more powerful than most people give it credit for. The first and second fight had the Heartless either _technically_ win or be taken away before it really fought.**

 **[Plus, I really like Darkside's design. He really should've been bigger, Shadow of the Colossus territory.]**

 **Well, that does it. I plan on making a forum for this series so stay tuned and check my profile page if you're interested.**

 **I'm The Aeon Offspring.**

 **[And I'm Tannin!]**

 **And we'll see you next chapter!**

 **Signing Off.**


	3. Traversing a New World

**Welcome to Kingdom of Fate: Dearly Beloved Chapter 3!**

 **I don't have much to say for this, other than keep listening to the KH OST, preferably the HD Remix soundtrack.**

 **[We'll be giving each original world a proper music recommendation when we get to them.]**

 **Let's begin!**

 **Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy are creations of and owned by both Disney and Square Enix.**

 **The Fate series is a creation of Kinoko Nasu and is owned by TYPE-MOON.**

 **This story is written for entertainment purposes. Please support the official release.**

* * *

Rin and Ruby stepped out of the doors that were the entrance to Traverse Town. They were in the First District, an area that comprised of a large open area with two lampposts. To the left was a small two story cafe that with candle lit tables. Next to the cafe was a weapon shop that sported a neon sign that said "Item." ... Okay then. To the right was a large double door that led to the town's Third District, next to it was a goofy looking mailbox. Between the weapon shop and the mailbox was a wide set of stairs that had a black chain in the center that split it into two sections. The upper portion of the First District had another entrance to the weapon shop immediately to the left. The center had a large, two story-looking shop that sold magic equipment along with regular jewelery, two neon signs on top of it saying "Accessories" and "Jewelery." (The owners must not have much of a naming sense) The right had houses for the residents to live in. The back had another door that led to the Second District. The sky above seemed to be cast in a perpetual night.

Rin was now sporting a new set of clothes. The sides of her hair now had twin-tails tied with black ribbons. She wore a white turtle neck sweater which was under a long, red trench coat-like jacket that reached past her knees. The jacket had a strap on the back to place Ruby in, Rin knowing that in some worlds, having a floating, talking staff was _not_ normal (heck, it was barely normal back home). Black gloves covered her hands. She wanted to wear a skirt, but she realized that with all the jumping around she may have to do, a pair of black dress pants seemed more logical (she _really_ didn't want to accidentally flash anyone). Brown leather boots adorned her feet.

Something caught Ruby's attention and she looked upward and gasped.

"Rin, look! A star's going out!" Rin turned her head up and her eyes widened at the sudden blinking out of what she knew was another world.

She looked back at Ruby. "We need to hurry and find Leon." The wand "nodded" and followed Rin as she climbed the stairs.

* * *

 **Traverse Town**

* * *

 **3\. Traversing a New World**

"We'll have to look carefully. The King didn't even bother including what Leon or this "Key" even looked like." Rin muttered, a bit annoyed that her ruler forgot to mention even a vague description.

Ruby halted and looked at an alleyway between the weapon and accessory shops.

"Hey, Rin, I-"

"Oh, what do you know, you cheap piece of cosplay?" The mage ignored the wand as she went to her right.

"Wha-! I am not cheap! Do you know what went into making me!" The two bickered as they walked off, Ruby completely forgetting to tell Rin about the three powerful sources of magic in the alley.

* * *

Rider felt her senses come back to her as she woke up.

Despite having her eyes covered by her Breaker Gorgon, she could still "see" through utilizing her other senses. If she had to describe it, Rider would say that it was like only being able to see everything's outline. This did not make her useless in combat, _far_ from it. Thanks to her magic sensing abilities combined with her extraordinary senses, she was able to "see" her opponent better than if she just used her eyes.

She could sense that she was in a tight space between two buildings, _'An alleyway.'_ she quickly thought. Rider could also sense that her Master and Saber were nearby, behind her actually.

Turning around she "saw" that the Servant of the Sword was lying face down on the ground, no longer in her armor.

"Saber," she knelled to her and spoke, "are you alright?" Rider decided to be at least somewhat courteous, seeing as how they were summoned to serve under the same master.

The knight groaned as she began to get up. "Rider? Wha... we're still alive?" She looked around in confusion. Saber's eyes widened and she shot up. "Our Master! Where is he!?"

"Calm yourself, Saber." She spoke in a cool tone. "He's still alive, right behind that pile of crates." The blond haired girl looked at her cautiously before carefully going to see for herself. Rider expected as much. While they had the same master and fought alongside one another, that didn't automatically make them comrades. For all she knew, this could be some sort of trap.

Saber looked and found the boy sleeping soundly while leaning against the wall. She let out a breath of relief as she turned back to Rider.

"How is it that we survived? The last thing I remember was being swallowed up by that black... thing." She asked the purple haired woman.

"I'm... not sure." She answered honestly. "I just woke up not even a minute ago, and now we're in an environment that doesn't match up with where we were before." They both began to glance around. There wasn't much that they could see being stuck in the alleyway. One thing was for sure though, like the island, the area was rich with Mana.

Both Servants heard their Master begin to groan, it seemed that he was waking up.

Saber knelled down to the boy. "Master, are you alright?" He lazily opened his eyes and saw the knight knelling next to him, Rider standing not too far away.

"What a dream..." He muttered as he closed his eyes. Saber raised a brow at this.

She was going to shake him slightly to wake him up again, only for his eyes to pop back open and for him to jump right up.

"Aah! This isn't a dream!" He looked around the unfamiliar area. "Where am I?" His eyes went to the two other people there. "Hey, you're both from the island!"

They nodded. "Master," Rider began, "do you know what's going on?"

"Master?" He repeated in confusion before shaking his head. "I'm just as lost as you are." He looked around again. "Oh, boy..."

"Master," this time Saber spoke, "might I suggest that we go out and see where we are?"

"Okay, seriously, why do you two keep calling me master?"

"We were summoned as your Servants in your time of need and are bound to you, therefore, you are our Master." The knight responded bluntly, but she could practically see the question marks pop up around him.

"Basically, we showed up when you need help and our power is connected to yours, so you're our "leader." Rider simplified, which the boy understood.

"Oh. Well, I really appreciate you both helping me out, but can you not call me master? It makes me uncomfortable." He pointed to himself with his thumb, a smile on his face. "My name's Sora! And you're... Saber and Rider, right?" He pointed to them and they nodded. "Okay, let's go do your idea, Saber." He walked to the alley's exit, the two following behind.

Rider noted how friendly he was acting with them, and could tell that it wasn't an act. Considering who she was, she wasn't expecting such an honest Master.

* * *

They walked into the open town and Sora's eyes widened. "Whoa, the islands never had signs like these!" He turned around to the girls and asked, "Hey, does this place look familiar to either of you?" They both shook their heads in denial and Sora's eyes went to the purple haired woman. "Um, hey, Rider? Aren't you gonna take that mask off and look around?"

"Oh, no. I do not need to take off the mask. My other senses can compensate." She quickly replied.

"Okay..." He still wanted to question why, but figured it was something personal. "Hey, maybe we should ask around?" Sora said while going to the door on the building that said "Accessories."

Opening the door, they saw the inside of the shop. To their right was a fire place, the back having a black couch with a matching color leg rest. The center had a display case showing off various bits of jewelery, the entire back wall doing the same. The left had the counter to make purchases, and had what looked like a shining crystal in a display case. Both Saber and Rider could feel the strong presence of Mana in the air.

At the head of the counter was a middle aged man. He had short, blonde hair with a few locks sticking up and brown goggles. He had blue eyes and a very light tan, a trace of a stubble on his chin. The man was chewing on a long toothpick, clearly trying to kick a smoking habit. Around his neck was a brown charm attached to a rope-like string. He wore a white T-shirt with two buttons down from the collar. A very wide, orange waistband with thin, vertical stripes was around his waist and stomach. He wore baggy blue pants that were up high, and long gray socks with black shoes.

He heard the door open and turned to face them with a smile, "Hey there, how can I..." only for it to fall as he saw who had come in. "Aw, it's only a coupla kids and a girl. Well, you can browse around if anything catches your fancy." His words were directed at Rider. Sora and Saber frowned, the boy walked up to the counter.

"I'm not a kid! And the name's Sora!"

"Okay, okay, simmer down." The man nonchalantly said to the boy. "So why the long face, Sora? You and your friends lost or somethin'?"

"No! Well, maybe... Where are we anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, you must all be new around here."

The man began to explain everything to the three.

* * *

"So, this place is called Traverse Town..." Saber said while her hand rested on her chin.

"So, gramps, is this really another world?" The boy asked.

"Don't call me gramps!" He snapped slightly. "The name's Cid!" He took a small breath to calm down. "Anyway...Not sure what you're talking about, but this sure ain't your island."

"Hmm... Guess I'd better start looking for Riku and Kairi." He, Saber, and Rider had made it here, so it would make sense for them to show up too.

"Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doin'." He began to mess around with some stuff behind the counter. "If you all ever run into trouble, you come find me."

"Thanks." Sora nodded with a smile and took the others out of the shop. Once they left, Cid couldn't help but sigh.

"Poor kid. To lose your world at a young age. Reminds me of the others." His mind went back to the girls that were with him. "Still, didn't think I'd be meetin' more beings like her."

* * *

"A whole different world from the one we were on before..." Rider mumbled.

Both she and Saber were still unaware of how this reality worked. Their reality had a type of magic that could let someone travel to other worlds as well, Kaleidoscope. But Kaleidoscope was limited to only _parallel_ worlds. While it was certainly possible to travel to places that bore absolutely _no_ semblance to each other, the multiverse was bigger than a vast ocean, so trying to find a world like that could be very difficult.

Unless you were Zelretch. But _he_ was a completely different can of worms entirely.

"Um, hey." Their thoughts were halted as their master called out to them. "I know you don't owe me anything, but can you help me look for my friends?" He was asking? Hadn't they said that they were bound to serve him, or had he already forgotten?

 _'Or perhaps he truly doesn't see us as just Servants.'_ Rider and Saber thought, their respect for the boy slightly increasing.

"A knight is one who helps those in need. Even if I wasn't your Servant, I would assist you anyway." Saber agreed.

Rider nodded. "Seeing that you asked so nicely, how could I refuse." Of course, she _couldn't_ refuse, but he was giving her the choice, something she wasn't expecting to happen.

"Thanks, Saber, Rider."

"Now, what do your friends look like?" Sora gave them a description on Riku and Kairi and they began their search. They asked the various citizens of Traverse Town if they had seen anyone like Sora's friends, only to no success.

"You find anything?" Sora asked as they met up at the doors at the end of the First District.

"I'm sorry, but no one saw anyone that matched your friends' descriptions." Saber said clinically. Sora looked at Rider, only for her to shake her head.

"Man. Well, we haven't looked everywhere, you girls ready to keep going?" He asked and they nodded. With that, Sora opened the door to The Second District.

The area was longer that the First District, having a wide variety of shops on the right side and a set of downward stairs that lead to a lower section of the district. The left side had a large hotel that reached all the way to the white building in the far back. The building resembled a religious establishment and had a bell under a clock tower on the roof.

The oddest part, was that there was absolutely no people there.

They walked forward a bit and heard the sound of someone running. A nondescript man fell a few feet in front of them and tried to protect himself from an unseen threat. Saber and Rider felt a dark presence, the same that they felt on the island, and summoned their weapons and armor.

Something jumped onto the man, making loud metal clanking sounds, and delved its hand straight into his chest. To the surprise of the three it ripped out a glowing heart, not the actual organ, but a thing that resembled drawings of a heart.

The creature was large, almost as big as Sora. It had a toned figure and a bluish-black body. Its feet had black, silver trimmed shoes that ended in spiraled toes. Silver wristbands were near wicked four fingered hands that had red claws. The head had a silver knight's helm decorated with two angular, eye-like spirals on the front and a yellow stripe at the base of the curled silver plume. Its monster-like qualities became more apparent as its shadowed face only exposed its bright yellow eyes, a toothy maw was the only other thing that showed. A large emblem was on its chest, it was black, outlined in red, and looked like a heart. The bottom seemed to split off and slightly curl with a spike down the middle. The upper portion had a red X. To Saber, this thing's existence was a monstrous mockery of what it was to be knight.

The monster crushed the heart, absorbing it into its being. The man became shrouded in darkness, and cleared up to reveal an exact duplicate of the creature. Both jumped up and disappeared into orbs of darkness.

The three ran up to where the man had fallen, only to be surrounded by the shadow-like monsters.

"It's those creatures from the island!" Sora shouted in shock, the Keyblade appearing in his hand. The monsters leaped at the three. The warriors easily struck them down before they had a real chance to attack. More kept appearing, and the three jumped to the lower section of the district. They kept fighting but the swarm wasn't dying down.

"We gotta get out of here!" Sora exclaimed after performing a **Sliding Dash** on a cluster of them.

Saber looked around for a way out, "The white building!" They ran to it and jumped up to the left side once realizing there was no way to get in on the front.

Getting inside, they saw that the white building had many gears and contraptions, most likely to operate the clock tower. They were all inert, frozen as no power flowed through the place.

Going a few steps in, more of the creatures started showing up.

"Their persistence is beginning to get annoying." Rider growled out as she launched a dagger at the enemies.

Going to the building was a mistake. The tighter area made it harder to move around in the increasing swarm. While Saber and Rider could manage, the same could not be said for Sora.

While his skill at swordplay was good, the creatures showed their strength in numbers as they kept landing occasional hits on the boy.

The swarm eventually did die down. As Saber struck down the last foe, they were allowed a moment's rest. Both Servants heard the sound of something hitting the floor and turned to the source, their eyes widening.

"Sora!" They both shouted as they ran to their Master. His clothing had several cuts and he had numerous wounds that, while shallow, were still bleeding. He was breathing heavily as he sat on the floor.

"S...sorry." He apologized. "Too... many..." He was grasping at his right arm, the worst of the bleeding stemming from there.

"Don't apologize!" Saber chastised. "This wasn't your fault! If I had been paying more attention I could have-"

"Hey," Sora interrupted, gaining control of his breathing, "if I can't apologize, then you can't blame yourself for anything." He grinned at her.

"Making jokes in your condition." Rider shook her head. "How's your arm?"

He flinched when trying to move it. "Not good, I can't swing the Keyblade like this, I'm not left handed."

"Don't worry about that right now." Saber replied, trying to make her tone soft. "Rider, I need you to carry Sora as I clear a path. We need to get back to Cid's shop."

The Servant of the Mount nodded as she picked up the boy while making sure not to hurt anything.

They made their way out and back into the swarm.

* * *

The First District was barren of life, only those dark creatures littered the area. Thankfully, there were less of them than there were in the Second District. They made it to Cid's shop and slammed the door behind them.

"Hey, watch the-Whoa!" Cid gawked as he looked at them, especially the wounded Sora. "What happened to 'im?!"

"We can explain later! Do you have any medicine and bandages?" Saber spoke, her tone authoritative.

"I got something even better, set him down on the couch." Rider complied, and laid the boy down. "I don't sell this stuff, but I usually keep a few bottles on hand for things like this." Cid pulled out a bottle that made Saber and Rider do a double take. The content of the bottle was a light green liquid that faintly glowed. The Servants could feel concentrated Mana within.

"What is that?" The knight couldn't help but ask.

"It's a Potion. They're used to heal all sorts of wounds. Here." The shopkeeper handed Sora the bottle, but he just stared at it.

"Um, what do I do with it?"

"Well, Potions can be used in two ways. The first is breaking it over your head. The magic in the thing will go to the wounds and heal you instantaneously. But with your case, I'd go with drinking it. While it's slower, it's much more thorough with the healing."

Sora looked at the bottle again before taking a swig. His eyes widened and his face scrunched up, but he finished drinking. "BLEH! That stuff was gross!" Sora complained.

Cid chuckled. "Well what 'cha expect kid? The stuff's technically medicine." A green glow began to surround Sora's wounds. It lasted for a few seconds before fading, leaving no traces of any previous injury.

"The stuff doesn't restore stamina, so you'd better rest for a bit." Sora nodded as Cid looked to the rooms other occupants. "You ladies want some? I don't see any injuries on ya but it never hurts." The two thought it over and agreed to taking the concoctions. While they hadn't used up much Prana fighting and getting here, it never hurt to keep their reserves up.

Though Sora had been right. Potions tasted _awful_.

"Now, tell me what happened."

* * *

"So, you encountered a Heartless swarm, huh?" Cid began chewing on his toothpick in thought.

"Heartless?" Rider questioned.

"Those monsters you've been fightin'." He got up and gazed out the door's window. "This' probably the worst it's ever been." Cid looked back at the three. "You three sure you wanna go back out there? It's probably calmed down, but not by much."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, if those Heartless really are causing trouble, then that means Riku and Kairi could be in trouble." He would never be able to live with himself if those monsters got to his friends.

"Sora," Saber looked at the boy in concern. "You can stay here, Rider and I can search for your friends."

"Thanks, Saber, but I want to go out myself." The boy smiled. "You and Rider can watch each others backs, but it would be easier for you both if you had a third to help."

While she and Rider were well capable of taking care of themselves, the concern was very touching. She sighed and looked at her master with her lips upturned slightly. "There's no way we can convince you to stay, is there?"

Sora smiled as he rubbed his nose. "Not unless you knock me out!"

"Hmm, now there's a thought." Rider smiled as she "saw" her master turn with a joking glare.

"Alright, but here." Cid handed the boy another Potion. "Insurance. Hopefully you won't need it."

"Thanks, Cid." With a smile, Sora and the two Servants left the accessory shop.

* * *

They walked a few steps forward when Saber and Rider sensed a _very_ strong source of Prana to their left..

"They'll come at you three from out of nowhere." A masculine voice spoke.

"Who are you?" Sora asked as the man suddenly spoke to them.

"And they'll keep on coming at you all," He revealed himself from the corner he was standing in, "as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." The man pointed at him and their eyes widened at this man's knowledge of Sora's weapon.

He looked to be almost three heads taller than Sora. He had long, brown hair that reached past his shoulders. Light blue eyes complimented his lightly tanned skin, a diagonal scar in between his eyes marred his face. A silver, chained necklace that held a pendant around his neck. The pendant depicted a side view of a roaring lion with a stylized cross under it, the bottom point had an arrow-like tip. He wore a white shirt under a black, short sleeved jacket that reached his ribs. Each sleeve had the same image as his pendant, only red, on the sides. They would later see small, red wings designed on its back. His left forearm had three brown belts evenly spaced apart starting from his wrist. Black gloves covered each hand. Black pants that had zippers on the sides and had three belts on the left thigh were held up by a black belt with silver buckle. Two more pairs of belts lied under that, brown, and were connected by a single silver buckle. A forth, black belt, was under all of that, slung sideways. His feet were covered with black zipper lined shoes.

"But why?" His expression didn't change much, but showed signs of confusion as he rubbed his forehead. "Why would it choose for a kid like you _and_ summon a pair of Heroic Spirits?" Saber and Rider's eyes widened at this. He knew what they were.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? And what do you mean by Heroic Spirits?"

"Never mind." He reached out a hand as he began to walk forward. "Now, let's see that Keyblade."

"What?" As if by instinct, the Keyblade appeared right in Sora's hand as he, Saber, and Rider took offensive stances. "There's no way you're getting this!" This man was too suspicious. Not only did he know of the Keyblade's existence, but he knew of Heroic Spirits as well.

He paused looking at the three who were prepared to fight. "... All right." Suddenly, he pulled out a sword almost as long as he was tall, and placed it on his shoulder. It was a single edged blade that had a hilt that looked like the revolver chamber of a gun, hammer and trigger included. The black handle was as long as a small forearm and, halfway down, resembled the butt of a rifle, The bottom had a keychain that looked like his necklace pendant, only without the cross bottom. "Then have it your way." He swung the blade and got into his own stance, sword out in front of him with both hands holding the handle.

He jumped up high and prepared to swing down. Saber jumped as well to intercept. Visible and invisible blades met with equal force, but the man had a trick up his sleeve. He pulled the trigger near the handle, causing a small explosion that launched Saber to the ground in a heap.

"Saber!" Sora had no time to worry as he dodged a downward strike from the man. Rider launched her daggers at him but he managed to block. The man was open where Sora was facing him, so he performed his **Sliding Dash** and hit him, following with three hits.

He staggered back, not expecting such force. He stabilized and fire began to gather around his left hand. He launched a fireball at a speed that Sora couldn't dodge, sending him back.

He sent another fireball his way but it was intercepted by Rider. It landed on her chest and dissipated, not even harming her.

"Tch, so this is a Servants Magic Resistance. Okay, you can shrug off **Fire** ," flames started to circle around him, beginning to scorching the ground, "but how about **Firaga**!" He launched another, larger, faster fireball at Rider. She dodge in the nick of time, but the explosion had reached her, burning her body and clothes.

This was bad. That was the equivalent to a B Ranked spell, and her Magic Resistance as it was now was only a C. The worst part was that the man didn't even looked winded from casting it.

"So, it _was_ enough for me to break through." He looked on as Saber jumped in front of the injured Rider. "Back up, should've figured." He dashed at the knight with a downward swing. Saber blocked again and he pulled the trigger once more, creating another small explosion. She felt her feet dig into the ground beneath her from the tremendous force. He would have swung again had Sora not hit him in the back. The man jumped back as Saber swung her invisible blade and followed.

"Rider!" The boy ran to the purple haired woman. "Are you okay?!"

"Ghh, I'll be fine." The flames hadn't burned anything vital, but she couldn't move like this.

Reaching into his pocket, Sora grabbed the Potion Cid had given him. She expected that he would treat his own burns that he'd received.

Instead, he broke the bottle under Rider.

"Sora..." She felt her wounds vanish as the boy looked at her, determination in his eyes

"Rider, I got a plan, but it's risky. It'll have to be a last resort. Are you with me?" Rider said nothing, but nodded, and Sora began to tell her his strategy.

Saber was having a difficult time fighting this man. Her lowered stats made it so that they were evenly matched, and luckily her Magic Resistance had stayed the same so his fireballs were mere distractions.

But this blade of his, this... Gunblade, was giving her a challenge. He kept pressing the trigger with every swing, causing Saber to stagger back. She was still quick enough to block, but that was _all_ she could do.

She was given a moment's reprieve when he jumped back to dodge a pair of daggers. She was surprised to see Rider was up and healed.

She and Sora were attacking the man, Rider's attacks serving as a distraction while Sora landed the hits.

"Saber!" Rider called out. "Prepare to unleash your sword's 'Sheath.'" Her eyes widened, of course! The attack was a guaranteed C Rank, he couldn't be able to block. She jumped back down the stairs and in between the two lampposts, and waited for the signal.

The man had had enough and gathered flames around his hand, unleashing a **Firaga** at Rider, who dodged completely this time. He set his sights on Sora, and swung down. The boy tried to block, but the force combined with the explosion launched him into a wall.

Rider suddenly appeared, grabbed Sora, and threw one of her daggers at the man, without even holding onto the chain.

"Saber! Now!" Rider yelled as she leaped behind her.

After easily dodging the weapon, the man turned to face the knight and his eyes widened. Saber was standing a good few feet away from him, her invisible sword causing the wind around it to go crazy. It was an attack, and a strong one. He'd have to use _that_ to block it.

Holding his Gunblade in front of himself, he began to channel Mana into his sword. The blade started glowing blue, and _grew_. Holding it up in the air, the energy blade was twice the size of the man. Saber's eyes widened, but then narrowed. This was their only chance. She poured as much Mana as she safely could, managing to raise her attack's Rank up to a C+.

" **Strike** ," She stepped forward, preparing to swing.

" **Lion** ," The man finished charging his blade, prepared to counter.

" **Air** **!** " / " **Heart** **!** "

The hurricane force slash met the shining blue blade, causing a large explosion.

Dust and smoked were kicked up, shielding the turn out. But Saber and Rider knew, and it was what made them gasp.

 **Invisible Air** , in that state, was a C+ Rank Noble Phantasm.

 **Lion Heart** , however, was a solid B Rank.

The man walked out of the dust cloud down the stairs with his blade against his shoulder, not completely unharmed. The nature of **Strike Air** made the attack go around him as well as in front. He had several tears in his clothes as well as a few visible cuts. He was breathing a little heavily, but was otherwise still good to continue.

"Okay... Rider, Plan B!" Sora whispered.

 _'Wait, Plan B? What is Plan B!?'_ The knight couldn't help but yell in her head.

"Now, seeing as that's over, maybe _now_ we could-!" His eyes widened. Rider picked up Sora and spun him around once before throwing him. The man had no time to block and Sora hit him right in the gut with the Keyblade.

That... That, was Plan B...

 _'I'm starting to believe that my master may be an idiot...'_

The man took a knee and grasped at his stomach, his energy blade dissipated while Sora stepped back, wobbling a little.

"Ha... ha... now you're... gonna..." the boy's vision became blurry, "you're... gon...na..." Sora fell flat on his back, fatigue and his injuries knocking him unconscious.

"Sora!"

"Wow, they really let you have it, Leon. I think you're slipping." A new voice, female, said behind the now identified Leon.

The girl was half a head taller than Sora, and had short, black hair. A silver, metal headband with two green tassels on the back. She had a fair complexion with violet eyes. Covering her neck was a long, yellow scarf. She wore a green tube top with two blue belts holding it up. Mesh sleeves on her arms that disappear into orange, fingerless gloves, with black bands constricting the ends, covered her arms. Tan short-shorts with another loose, blue belt around her waist, white socks that reach about mid-thigh, and orange shoes finished the outfit. Her hands were on her hips, a smirk on her face.

"Hey, you try fighting two Heroic Spirits." Leon stood up, wincing slightly. "I tried going easy on the kid, but _they_ made me go for an in between of that and fighting seriously."

What.

He hadn't even used his full strength in that battle?!

"Looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse." Leon stepped forward, making Saber and Rider stand in front of Sora, their weapons drawn.

"Hey, relax." The girl held her arms up in a nonthreatening manner. "We just wanna talk, preferably somewhere not out in the open."

"Why should we trust you?" Saber glared at the man they had fought against.

"Other than the fact that I had no intention of fighting any of you and that you were the ones who technically started it?" He raised a brow as the Servants didn't reply. "It's the fact that the Heartless should be coming back soon, and they're after _him_ specifically."

They looked at their unconscious master. How long could they hold those creatures back before they eventually run out of Mana and are overwhelmed? They couldn't fight as well while protecting Sora, either.

"... We'll go with you, but do anything to make us question your actions and you _won't_ have time to feel sorry." Rider ground out, causing the girl to flinch back a bit, her smile slightly askew while Leon just shrugged.

"We'll explain everything when we reach the hotel and the kid wakes up."

* * *

 _-Elsewhere_

Riku opened his eyes, his body felt like it went through a massive beating. Opening them wider, he got a look of his surroundings

The place looked nothing like the islands. He was laying on a large, floating rock that was in between what looked like two waterfalls going... _up_. There were several more floating rocks that looked like they could be used to get up what looked like a gate. Far off in the distance, he could make out what looked like a castle.

Riku got up slowly, but even then he felt like the world was spinning as he stood all the way up.

"Where.. am I?" He tried looking around again, and noticed that his friends weren't there.

"Sora!" He screamed out. "Kairi!" He waited to hear their voices, but nothing replied back.

Far away from him, standing near the gate, was a man.

* * *

 _-Traverse Town_

Rin and Ruby walked in a large alleyway that was to the left of the hotel in the Second District.

"Geez, how hard could it be to find one person!?" Rin grumbled out. Suddenly, both of them halted as they sensed a powerful burst of Prana coming from the First District.

"Rin, did you feel that?"

"How could I _not_? Someone's fighting. Against _what_ I don't want to imagine."

"Maybe that was Leon?" The magic wand brought up.

"It's certainly possible-"

"Excuse me." The mage felt a hand tap her shoulder. She shrieked in fright. Turning around, she pulled out a red gemstone from her coat, but calmed down when she saw that it was just a woman.

She was a head and a half taller than Rin. Her hair was long and brown, styled into a braid and held down with a red bow and hairband down her back. She had curls on the side of her head, bangs framing her face. She had fair skin and green eyes, looking at her in worry. A black string was tied into a bow knot around her neck. She wore a pink dress with magenta lining and buttons going down the front, all of which are buttoned except for the last two. A loose, lilac belt around her waist was held with a black string tied in the same way as the one around her neck. Her left wrist had a silver coiled wire bracelet. She had large, brown boots on her feet.

"Did the king send you?" She spoke again.

"You know the king?" Ruby asked.

The woman nodded, a calming smile on her face. "Yes, my name is Aerith."

* * *

"Come on, lazy bum. Wake up." Sora heard Kairi's voice calling out to him.

Opening his eyes, he found himself laying on a bed inside a large green colored hotel room.

Sora looked to his side and saw Kairi standing there.

"You okay?" She asked.

"I guess..." Looking at himself, Sora found that he was completely healed and his clothes were no longer cut or burnt.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade." She explained. "But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade."

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi."

"Kairi?" Her voiced changed. "Who are you talking about? I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

"Huh?" Everything flashed white and standing in front of him was a black haired girl.

She turned around to face the door, Saber and Rider nearby it. "I think you over did it, Squall."

The man they had fought before stepped into the room. "That's Leon." Leaning on the doorway was the weapon Sora was using.

"The Keyblade..."

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to get those creatures to stop chasing you three." Yuffie walked to Leon, Saber and Rider decided to go to Sora. "It turns out that's how they were tracking you all."

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them." Leon crossed his arms. "But it won't work for long, especially with those Heroic Spirits you got."

He went over to the Keyblade and picked it up. "Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." Flicking it back, the weapon disappeared in a flash of light, and immediately reappeared in Sora's hand, making him flinch back in surprise.

"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"I believe you have kept us in the dark for long enough." Saber stepped in., glaring at the man. "What is going on?"

* * *

"Okay, you know there are many other worlds out there besides your kingdom and this town, right?" Aerith asked Rin and Ruby, who were all inside a red hotel room.

"Of course." Rin answered back with a raised eyebrow.

"But that's supposed to be a secret." Ruby said, confused on how Aerith knew.

"They've been secret because they've never been connected. Until now." The dressed woman continued. "When the Heartless came, everything changed."

* * *

"The Heartless." Rider put her fingers to her chin. "Just what are they?"

"Those without hearts." Leon answered.

Yuffie continued the explanation. "The darkness in people's hearts. That's what attracts them."

"And there is darkness within every heart."

That... really put things into perspective for Saber and Rider. If what they said was true, then anyone was capable of turning into a Heartless like that man in the Second District. Then, a terrifying thought occurred to them. Could a Heroic Spirit lose their heart as well?

"Hey, have any of you heard of someone named Ansem?" Yuffie asked the three.

* * *

"Ansem? No, it doesn't really sound familiar." Ruby said while doing her, "thinking" pose, which was just her looking like she was taking a seat in midair.

"He was studying the Heartless." Aerith answered. "He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report."

"If that's the case then may we see it?" Rin asked, only for the brown haired girl to shake her head.

"Its pages are scattered everywhere."

"Scattered?"

"To many worlds."

"Oh," Ruby tapped her fist into her palm (if she had hands, that is), "that's probably why the king left, to search for those reports."

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly."

"Then we've gotta find him, and quick!"

"Hold on just a second." Rin interjected. "Remember the king's orders? First, we need to find that 'Key!'"

"That's right." Aerith added, "the Keyblade."

* * *

"So... this is the key?" Sora held up the "sword" in wonder.

"The Heartless have a great fear of the Keyblade." Leon informed. "They may be instinct based creatures, but they're smart enough to come after and try to destroy its wielder, no matter what." He walked over to the doorway.

"Well, I didn't ask for this."

"The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you." Yuffie told the boy. A sentient weapon? Saber was briefly reminded of Caliburn and Excalibur.

"So, tough luck." The man said bluntly as he leaned on the doorway.

"How did all this happen?" Sora grasped his forehead, trying to comprehend everything. "I remember being in my room..." He gasped as a terrible thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute! There were Heartless all over my island!" Sora looked grief stricken. The Servants seemed to have come to the same conclusion as their eyes widened. "What happened to my home?! My parents?! Riku! Kairi!"

"You know what? I really don't know." All Leon could do was give the boy who had potentially lost everything a sad glance.

Sora felt like crying right now, but tried hard to hold back his tears. _'I-I was able to show up in Traverse Town! E-everyone could have ended somewhere else too! They could all be okay!"_ He kept repeating that thought within his head, desperately trying to believe it.

The silence that spread across the room was palpable. Saber and Rider couldn't think of any words to comfort the boy with. How could they? While they had experienced great tragedies within their lives, neither of them had a shoulder to cry on during these events, nor have they ever done the same.

 _'As to be expected from The King with No Heart!'_ A voice rang out in Saber's head. She tried to ignore the reminder at her failures, but the situation didn't really allow her.

Here was a boy, whose friends and family were most likely dead and needed comfort. And here she was, a King who was unable to do what was expected of one, make her people happy and safe.

"Hey," Sora broke the silence and thankfully had brought Saber out her line of thinking, "you said something about Heroic Spirits. I still don't know what they are."

"Right, you were just thrown into this." Leon stood straight. "Heroic Spirits, in essence, are like ghosts of heroes from legends given physical form. There's a lot more to it, but that's the basic explanation."

"Whoa!" Sora turned to the two and he practically had stars in his eyes. "Saber! Rider! You two are heroes?"

"Um, Leon, how is it that you know of Heroic Spirits?" Rider asked, quickly wanting to change the subject.

"This town actually has one protecting it." Yuffie was the one who answered.

"Wait, your saying that there's one in the area right now?" Saber asked.

Leon nodded. "From what she told us, worlds have a small amount of sentience, some have enough to summon a Heroic Spirit to protect its inhabitants. Naturally, with the Heartless running around, some need it more than others."

"I see." Saber pondered with her fingers on her chin. "This Spirit Traverse Town summoned, do you know her name?"

"Oh, no, Traverse Town didn't summon her." Yuffie shook her head. "This place is made up of the remnants of other worlds. Tamamo said that a place like this would never gain any "real" sentience."

"Rider?"

"Hmm... The name does not sound familiar, perhaps a lesser known hero?"

"Well, anyway, she's not from any world I know of. Tamamo said that she was traveling around a bit before settling in the world me and Leon are from."

"I checked earlier and she's mainly focusing on protecting the Fourth and Fifth Districts. You may not get to see her today if that's what you were expecting." Leon informed the two. He turned to the Keyblade's chosen one. "Sora, right?" The boy nodded. "It's best that you know what the Keyblade can do."

"The Keyblade can open and seal any lock. We left something in the chest on the table, go ahead and take it." Yuffie continued on.

Getting up, Sora went to the table that had the blue chest. Not really knowing what to do, the boy tapped the weapon on the chest twice. It opened to reveal a yellow spherical glass bottle. It had small yellowish-brown designs of crescent moons and stars near the spiky "cork." Saber and Rider could feel an incredible amount of concentrated Mana within it.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"It's an Elixir. They're capable of restoring a persons health and magical energy back up to maximum. It should be useful, especially with how much a Heroic Spirit's bound to use." Leon told the boy.

"Those things are ridiculously expensive so don't waste it!" The ninja girl pointed out.

"It's best to prepare yourselves now. The Heartless will come find you all sooner or later."

"Prepare ourselves?" The Keyblade's wielder asked.

"For the fight of your lives." He responded seriously. "Are you ready?"

Sora looked at Saber and Rider, then back to the Keyblade. Tightening his grip, he looked back to Leon and nodded.

"Alright, there's some more people you need to meet. Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now with the other visitors." The Servants walked to Sora, but halted when they felt a familiar dark presence. _Right in the room!_

"Leon!" Yuffie yelled as an orb of darkness appeared near the window. It released a knight Heartless like the ones before.

"Yuffie, go!" Leon yelled as he pulled out his Gunblade.

* * *

"Okay, I think it's time to meet up with the other visitors." Aerith finished her explanations to Rin and Ruby.

"Yeah, I was wondering who those powerful sources of Prana belonged to." Ruby said, looking to the door behind them.

Rin walked up to the red door. "Well, we better-" She was interrupted when the door slammed open, making her hit the wall behind _hard_.

Yuffie ran out the door. "Aerith! Heartless are here! We need to get out of here!"

Leon ran to the Heartless and swung his Gunblade, launching the creature out of the window.

"Sora, Saber, Rider, let's go!" He jumped out the window, the three following shortly after.

Ruby pried the door off of Rin, who was laying prone against the wall, leg twitching.

* * *

The four landed in the alleyway, several of the knight Heartless appearing.

"Don't bother with the small fry! Find the leader!" Leon launched a fireball at a few, clearing a path for them.

"I can take care of the ones here! Go to the Third District! The entrance is in the Second!" He ordered.

The three ran and came to a door that led back into the Second District. More of the Heartless appeared and they were force to fight.

Saber went for a slash, destroying the creature instantly. She went for another, and was surprised that the Heartless actually deflected her attack. It retaliated with a kick that she was able to block, killing it right away.

Two of them performed a spinning kick, going towards Rider. She jumped into the air and launched her daggers at them, making them dissipate into darkness.

Sora blocked a hit from one and landed his hits, destroying the monster. As it dissipated, a glowing heart floated up into the air and disappeared.

They ran forward and more appeared, this time with the shadow-like Heartless. Sora performed his **Sliding Dash** , quickly getting to the foes. The knight went for a kick towards Saber, making her block. She staggered back as she felt one of the knights kick her back. The Heartless leaped to her but Rider killed it before it got near. Saber nodded to her as she slashed another. She should have known that these new Heartless had new, underhanded tactics.

They made a dash for a thin alley and saw a door at the end that had a sign that said "Third District."

They entered to the new District and ran to the center. Ahead to their left was a vacant house, to the right was a ramp that led down to the square shaped main plaza. To the left of the plaza was a large pair of doors that went to the First District. Neon signs hung everywhere with a star shaped one near the door, an electrical power box to the left of that. The front had a gold fountain that depicted a man and a woman embracing each other. The area was smaller than either the First and Second District.

Up above in a balcony, Rin was following Ruby.

"Okay, those sources of Prana should be here. They're really close!" She was about to look over the edge when she and Rin heard the sound of something teleport behind them. They turned around and saw the dark creatures. "So these are the Heartless." The wand said as she flew into Rin's hand.

"Okay, let's do this, Ruby!"

* * *

In her defense, Rin did not expect the Heartless to spin kick her in the face.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" She and Ruby screamed as they fell off the balcony

The three heard the screaming and saw the falling girl. Rider jumped and easily caught her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sora ran to the girl as she began to calm herself down.

"Y-yeah, I'm fi-" Her eyes widened as Ruby floated near her, _probably_ mimicking her as they stared at the Keyblade. "The key!" They shouted, surprising the three.

"Whoa! That wand just talked!" Sora exclaimed. Saber and Rider couldn't help but raise their eyebrows at this. A _talking_ magic wand? This was pushing the concept of a sentient weapon to the _absurd_ limits.

Ruby turned to the two Servants and started shaking in excitement. " _Two_ Heroic Spirits! This day keeps getting better!" The two's eyes widened. Were the forces of magic common knowledge to _everyone?_

Before they could say anymore, the earth started to shake. Pillars raised up near the exits, blocking any means of escape. The knight Heartless appeared, surrounding them. The all got into battle stances, Rin holding Ruby with one hand, her left hand near her jackets inner pockets.

A Heartless jumped to Rin and she grabbed a red gemstone. She the threw the jewel at the creature and it exploded in a large fireball that ended up destroying it and a few others nearby.

"Whoa! Nice one!" Sora shouted as he began striking another Heartless. He started with a downward strike and followed up with a new move. It was an upward diagonal swing to the left. It was very fast, allowing him to chain into his final strike much more quickly.

 **Slapshot** , a move he had come up with while fighting on droves of Heartless.

The wave of the dark creatures had gone down quickly. There was a pause, no more of them appeared.

"Stay on your guards. I can sense a dark power approaching us." The knight informed the others. _'Where is it? This one isn't like the others, it's not just teleporting here. It's...'_ Her eyes widened when she figured out where the Heartless was.

"Above us!" She and Rider yelled as the monster made itself known.

Six giant pieces of armor fell from the sky, a body, a head, two arms, and two legs. The Armored Torso had a vaguely hour glass-shaped, violet with a lilac, diamond pattern around its waist, light black additives on it, and was large enough to fit all of them inside. The Heartless emblem was emblazoned on the center of the armor. Its helmet was violet, spherical, and sported three silver spikes and a silver faceplate with several holes in it. Both of the Gauntlets were violet with wide wrists and three lilac, segmented fingers, and were as tall as the torso. The Hammerlegs were short, violet, and ends in large, hammer-like, black feet. On the tops of both Gauntlets and Hammerlegs were black half spheres with a single spike and two red outlines on each one. Each piece was hollow.

The armor crashed to the ground, clanging loudly as it bounced up and assembled itself, body parts floating in midair. The head slammed down on the torso, completing the Heartless.

It began to walk forward and everyone dashed towards it. Saber and Sora went to strike with their respective blades, only for them to bounce off the torso, scratching the surface. The Gauntlets began to spin around the body, trying to slice up the four. Rider threw her daggers at the arms, knocking them back.

Rin held her left hand like a gun, index finger pointed and thumb up. She delved into Ruby's power, gathering the Mana she needed. " **Spread** **!** " She shouted and fired a large, hazy, dark purple orb that shot off like a bullet at the thing's feet. Once it made impact, the orb broke apart into four smaller projectiles. Only two of them hit while the others just struck the walls. The feet halted for a bit, before hopping up and down to shake off the blast's effects, creating small shockwaves that the others had to jump away from.

"Tch, leave it to the suit of armor to be resistant to **G** **andr Spread**." She was about to reach into her jacket when the giant armor jumped to her, the pieces flailing about. Her eyes widened as the armor got closer to squishing her.

"Look out!" Sora shoved her out of the way, leaving the body parts to crash on the ground. Sora got up from on top of the mage. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine!" Her face was red for some reason. "J-just get off!" He shoved the boy off her and tried to calm down.

"Having boy trouble, Rin?" She could practically _feel_ the grin Ruby was trying to give her.

"Shut up, Ruby..." Rin growled at the wand as she took out another red jewel, waiting for an opening.

An arm was heavily damaged from the attacks of Saber, but it still wasn't going down. Rider wrapped the appendage with her chains and anchored it with the daggers. With a good amount of effort, she swung the arm in an arc and slammed it into the ground, making it explode into nothingness.

Rin saw her chance and threw the gem at the Heartless' feet. The jewel detonated and took out its Hammerlegs. It's remaining arm shot out like a rocket right at Sora, but Saber deflected the projectile, making it land on the ground. They both took the opportunity to slash at the appendage while it was down, causing enough damage to destroy it.

Only the torso and head were left. The Armored Torso began to spin, faster and faster, until it was practically a blur. It sped to Rider, who tried to dodge, but did so in the direction of its rapid rotation, making it catch up and land a blow on her back.

It stopped, which gave Sora and Saber ample time to strike back.

Rin put Ruby on her back as she pointed both hands at the Armored Torso. Not even needing an incantation, she only shouted a warning to the boy and knight. They got out of the way as Rin unleashed a rapid fire **Dual Gandr** on the thing. It hit, and the damage built up, making for a massive attack.

Once Rin was done, chains went around the body and Rider's daggers dug a firm grip on the Heartless. With much more effort than with the arm, she began to swing around the torso, building momentum.

"Sora! Saber! Get ready!" Not needing to be told twice, the two prepared. Rider let go of her weapon, sending the Armored Torso careening towards them. When it got close enough, they both swung their swords as hard as they could, sending the armor crashing into a wall.

It tried to get up, but it was shaky. The helmet was clanking as it shook faster and faster, until it fell on the corner of the torso's top and hit the ground with a loud **clang**.

A giant glowing heart flew out of the Armored Torso, the remnants of the armor itself began to be surrounded in a light blue aura, gradually fading until the Heartless disappeared.

* * *

"So, you two were looking for me?" Sora pointed to himself in surprise after Rin's explanation.

"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade." Leon spoke while Yuffie nodded, having shown up not too long ago.

"Hey, you wanna come with us?" Ruby asked while twirling a bit in the air. "We can travel to other worlds in our vessel!"

Sora looked to the ground, his tone becoming melancholic. "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi..."

"Of course." Rin replied smoothly. Sora's head shot up.

"Are you sure?" The magic wand whispered to her wielder.

"Who knows?" She whispered back, "But we need this kid to come with us in order to find the king."

Leon walked to the boy. "Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."

Sora's voice became depressed again. "Yeah, I guess..."

"Alright, but you can't come with us looking like that." Rin told him. "I don't want to get depressed over this adventure. No frowning. No sad faces. Okay?"

"Yup, our ship runs on happy faces!" Ruby agreed with a cheery voice, getting _annoyingly_ close to Rin's face.

"... Happy?" A few seconds passed before Sora did something unexpected.

He gave Rin and Ruby the absolute _goofiest_ smile they had ever seen. Everyone paused, not really expecting this. Eventually Sora stopped and looked at the two in confusion.

"Pfft!-GAHahahaha!" Ruby broke out into a laughing fit and fell to the ground. Rin looked to her side and just scratched her cheek. Saber and Rider just shook their heads at how silly their master was.

A normal smile appeared on Sora's face. "Okay, why not? I'll go with you two." He turned back to the two that had been with him since the Destiny Islands disappeared. "Saber, Rider, you wanna come too?" He was giving them a choice again, an appreciated gesture.

"Seeing as how you are getting into something this serious, as your Servant, I will not let you go into danger alone." The knight spoke, as if declaring the statement to her ruler.

"Yes, as our Master, we couldn't go far without you anyway." Rider informed.

"Aw, come on. Quit it with that, 'Master and Servant' stuff." He put his hands behind his head and smiled widely. "I mean, we're all friends, right?"

He considered them... Friends?

That was something both Servants hadn't expected. But... they found that they didn't really mind.

With a rare smile from Saber and one from Rider, they both nodded to the boy's friendship and joining him on the journey across worlds.

"Okay, time for introductions!" The wand announced dramatically, causing Rin to facepalm. "I am the great wand of Love and Justice! Darkness will cower before my Master and I's Might!" She began to spin around, spreading shining glitter that glowed all the colors of the rainbow. "I am the almighty Kaleidostick! The one and only:" She stopped spinning, shining lights coming from behind her and... what looked like her logo.

" **Magical Ruby!** "

Sora was clapping in genuine applause from the display, Saber and Rider... didn't know how to react, and just decided to forget that this happened.

Probably for the best.

Rin just had her fingers pinching her brow.

"Ha Ha! Finally, someone who appreciates my introduction!" The wand was practically beaming. "I think he'll be a good influence on you, Rin!"

"Please don't feed her ego." The mage told him, ignoring the "look" Ruby was giving her. "My name is Rin Tohsaka." She held out her hand.

"Sora." He shook it, a smile on his face.

* * *

 _-Elsewhere_

"Tch, look at this!" A harsh voice called out while looking at the projection of Sora and his group. "A mere child managed to take down that Heartless!"

"Such is the power of the Keyblade. And don't give the boy too much credit. He had a lot of help from those Servants of his." A woman replied, bemusement in her voice.

"We could just turn him into a Heartless. That should take care of things." Stated a third, a voice befitting an emperor.

"The brat's friends are the king's subordinates." A slightly raspier voice spoke. "Look at the girl and the wand. They're pathetic."

"You're not very threatening yourself, Jr." Another spoke, referring to the fourth's short stature.

"What!? You dare say that I am a weakling!? The great-!?"

"Enough." The final voice and leader broke up the squabble. "The Keyblade has chosen him. Will he be the one who conquers the darkness?"

He was a man that had mat-black hair cut short. The man wore a pair of black sunglasses. Pale skin had two scars running diagonally down, under his eyes. More scars could be seen on his hands, the left was fiddling with a pair of Baoding Balls. He was wearing a business suit, every article black. An interested smirk was across his face.

"Or will it devour him?" The smirk grew. "Either way, the kid could prove himself useful to us..."

* * *

 _-Traverse Town_

Everyone was back in the First District. Leon giving Sora some advice.

"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you." He stated, arms crossed. "While we have _somewhat_ of an Idea, we still don't know how far the Heartless have spread."

"Check out the shops here!" Yuffie suggested. "They have plenty of neat stuff that could be useful."

"This is from all of us."Aerith said, and gave Sora 500 Munny. "Munny is universal capital. It changes into the currency of the world you go to. Spend it as you see fit." She took out something else as Leon turned his head away. "And this is from Leon" She handed Sora an Elixir.

"Good luck you guys!" Yuffie cheered.

"I hope you find your friends."

"Look out for each other. Keep your spirits up." Sora nodded at Leon's words.

* * *

"Okay, the Gummi Ship is just outside the gate." Rin informed her three new passengers.

"The what?" Rider asked, not sure if she heard that right.

"Gummi Ship. Yeah, I know, it's a bit of a silly name."

"Just wait 'till you all see it!" Ruby said with a flourish.

"Hold on. We still need to shop for Potions and the like. Also, we need to have Sora properly equipped." In a flash of light, a rhombus shaped crystal appeared in Rin's hand, a flame dancing in the center. Saber and Rider could sense Prana from within the gem.

"What is that?" Saber asked.

"It's a **Fire** Ability Crystal." She took on a pose where she had a hand on her hip while a finger was pointed up. "Ability Crystals are able to have a person instantaneously learn something, be it techniques or magic spells. Although spells traditionally learned are more powerful, these are useful for when you don't have the time to teach." She handed the Crystal to Sora, and it was absorbed into his being. Information ran through his mind as he instantly remembered the formula for creating a **Fire** spell. "The Keyblade is a magical weapon, so it makes sense that you can use magic now."

"Whoa." He stared at his hand in wonderment of his new power.

Another flash of light and a smaller crystal appeared in Rin's hand. "This Ability Crystal's different in that it gives you a physical technique." He absorbed the crystal and he felt himself instantly knowing how to... roll?

"A Dodge Roll? I could do that before." He looked at the mage with a raised eyebrow.

"Not quite. There will always be a slight bit of magic in a technique you learn when it comes from a crystal. Like the Dodge Roll for example, it has the ability to deflect small projectiles. Just make sure not to do it to much, or you may get dizzy."

"Oh, well that's cool."

"Just keep this in mind." Her tone and expression suddenly became serious. "Unlike the Magic Crystals, which only put information into your mind, Technique Crystals actively insert Magical Energy into your body. If you put too many inside yourself and don't have a body that can handle it, pretty things will _not_ happen to you."

Sora's face paled, not wanting to imagine what occured. "G-gotcha!" He gave a nervous smile and thumbs up.

"Good. Also, you can take out Technique Crystals if you concentrate for long enough, so it'll be useful if you wanna reorganize your skills. We're bound to find more on this journey so keep an eye out." She took a breath after the huge lecture. "Now, other than going out to shop for items, is there anything else you want to do?

Suddenly, a loud growl could be heard coming from Sora's stomach. He chuckled a bit. "Well, I haven't eaten anything in a while, so we should probably get something to eat."

* * *

After their meal (Saber and Rider putting away more food than their frames would suggest. Rin internally thanked her queen for giving them so much Munny), the group went and bought various items that would be useful on their adventure.

Ether's were one of the things they bought in bulk, a special type of concoction that only restored a persons Prana reserves. They were stored inside cube shaped bottles that were intended to be broken open, as drinking something like this really _would_ make you sick as it was essentially liquefied Mana.

They had to settle for the basic stuff as the synthesis shop wasn't open yet.

"Hey, Rin, I was wondering, where are we storing all this stuff?" Sora asked while holding a bag full of Potions.

"Ruby has access to a pocket dimension that I use to store all sorts of stuff, mainly things like Potions. They way it works is-"

"Actually,"Sora cut her off before she could go into another lecture, "you don't have explain it to me, I probably wouldn't get it anyway." He chuckled.

Rin half glared at the boy before deciding to bring up something that was bothering her while they walked to the Gummi Ship. "Hey, Saber?"

"Yes, Rin?" The knight responded, holding a bag of various types of food (she insisted that they have emergency rations).

"I just wanted to say that you look very familiar." This caused the Servant to raise a brow. "I felt like I've met someone like you before, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Maybe Saber merely has _that_ type of face." Rider half suggested and half joked while holding the bag of Ethers.

"What is that supposed to mean, Rider?" The blond asked the blindfolded woman, a bit of annoyance in her tone.

"I think she meant that you just have a common face that a lot of people have." It was Sora who replied with the answer.

 _'Oh, please.'_ Saber had to roll her eyes at this. _'What are the odds of that many people having the same face as me?'_

* * *

After finishing up everything, the group went to the Gummi and launched off to what Ruby referred to as the "Sea of the Skies."

"Wow!" Sora was practically up against the window looking out at the amazing view of the thousands upon thousands of stars, even Saber was mesmerized by the incredible sight.

"Yeah, I never get tired of it either." Rin said as she sat down on one of the chairs inside the cockpit. She raised a brow when Rider went to the Pilot's Seat. "Rider, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to pilot the ship." She stated it as if it were a fact, an almost child-like smile on her face.

"You're wearing a blindfold."

"Don't be so naive, Rin." She waved off the mage pointing out the obvious. Rin didn't really like that all knowing tone the Heroic Spirit had. "While I cannot "see" in the traditional sense, my enhanced senses and exceptional magic detection makes my true sight comparatively sub par. That, and I am named _Rider_. I wouldn't be confident in my skills otherwise."

"She has a point, Rin." Ruby added from her back. "I can sense that her Riding Skill is an A+ Rank. Even Saber's a solid B. It be better for them to handle the driving instead of me 'cause while I _can_ drive the Gummi Ship, it's only barely passable."

The mage sighed. "Fine, I don't care, just as long as I don't do it." A shiver went down her spine. Even when it's magical in nature, Rin was still technologically inept. "Ruby, what's our next destination going to be?"

The wand flew over to a screen and read the text. "Hmm... Say's here the next closest world isn't too far away. A good area to land in would be a place called _La Maison Lumières_. It translates to 'The House of Enlightenment.'"

"Seems like a good place to start. Rider?"

"Already going there."

Sora stared out at the vast ocean of stars. Somewhere, his friends were out there.

 _'Riku. Kairi. I'll see you soon, okay?'_

* * *

 **Final Note:**

 **So, what did you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Make sure to leave any constructive criticisms and/or questions you have in the in the review section.**

 **I only now realize that I've essentially given Sora a harem...**

 **[Don't worry guys, he's going the Kairi Route.]**

 **Even if they do end up falling for Sora (the guy has a lot of the same qualities as Shirou, let's be honest here), they won't pursue a relationship with him 'cause he _clearly_ has his eyes set on _just_ Kairi.**

 **[Don't you mean Riku?]**

 **They're just like _really_ close brothers dammit!... Though that one cutscene in 3D doesn't help my case.**

 **[Okay, that's about it!]**

 **Make sure to join us next time, almost exclusively written by Tannin!**

 **[Expect innuendos, only don't actually.]**

 **Until next time, I'm The Aeon Offspring.**

 **[And I'm Tannin, the nerd of card games.]**

 **Signing Off.**


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